ewable energy sources through initiatives such as SE4ALL (Sustainable Energy For All), and SIDS DOCK- (sustainable energy initiative for geothermal energy) and improvements in energy efficiency. But SIDS still face difficulties in the adoption of new technologies and innovation and the capacity to sustain them in an island setting.
The GEO SIDS Outlook report provides an integrated narrative for the future of SIDS based on an analysis of realizable opportunities, case studies and policy actions. It connects the need for improved basis services such as waste management, affordable energy and food security, to the sustainable management of natural resources, the development of a diversity of small to medium enterprises to support the blue-green economy and key sectors such as tourism, and access to technology and financing.
Note to Editors:
To download the full report click here GEO SIDS Outlook pdf
To download as an ebook: GEO SIDS Outlook ebook
Or go to UNEP Live; select SIDS Region and click in the word cloud on GEO SIDS Outlook (pdf) and (ebook) or under APPs
For data and knowledge on SIDS issues, visit
For more information, contact:
UNEP SIDS Summit, Anama Salofa email@example.com +6857749098
UNEP Nairobi, Melissa Gorelick, Information Officer, firstname.lastname@example.org, +254 20 762 3088/ +254 71 621 4041
UNEP News Desk, email@example.com
Background to the report
The UNEP GEO SIDS Outlook is a follow-up to the UNEP/UN DESA Foresight Process report on Emerging Issues for Small Island Developing States. It is a part of the ongoing UNEP GEO process, helping to ensure that there is a SIDS voice at the global assessment level. It has been timed as a contribution to the 2014 Third International UN Conference on SIDS in Samoa and as input to the development of the post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals.
The UNEP SIDS Foresight Process identified 22 emerging environmental issues and 15 socio-economic issues. The environmental issues comprised of three cross-cutting issues (beyond GDP; unique human capacities for island sustainability and synergizing indigenous and local knowledge and modern science as a basis for sustainable island development) and 19 others covering rehabilitation of biodiversity and ecosystem services; sustainable use of natural resources; managing threats from chemicals and waste and climate change and its impacts. The report demonstrated the potential leading role that SIDS can play in defining and implementing holistic models of sustainability and human well-being.
The next step has been to undertake a SIDS Outlook process, based on the key issues identified in the Foresight Report and raised by SIDS in their submissions to the UN Conference on SIDS.
At the core of the SIDS Outlook was the UNEP Live Community of Practice on SIDS made up of government experts, scientist and policy-makers. An author group, drawn from the Community of Practice was invited to interpret what is known today about the state and trends in the SIDS environment and to articulate a set of themes for outlooks and policy choices for the future.
The Community of Practice developed a shared understanding of the key attributes that would be needed to develop future sustainable development pathways for SIDS, referring to the six themes of the SIDS conference in Samoa and the latest set of Sustainable Development Goals. During the book sprint, the author group made reference to the latest information provided in the national reports submitted to the Third UN SIDS International Conference, international scientific analyses, such as the Fifth Assessment Report of the IPCC, research reports, emerging issues also facing SIDS, case studies on good practice and solutions to key challenges in SIDS.
From these inputs, the expert group developed an ensemble of SIDS outlooks - the blue-green economy; technological leapfrogging; priority to island community and culture; and reconnecting with nature - and a set of enabling actions. Finally, the expert group suggested critical elements for a SIDS sustainability policy framework, taking into acco