This year, the World Environment Day theme is Raise your Voice, Not the Sea Level which celebrates the remarkable resilience of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to the impacts of climate change. .... Research shows that by 2100, global warming could lead to a sea-level rise of up to two meters, making many SIDS, including the Maldives, Kiribati and Tuvalu uninhabitable. The government and people of Barbados, a Caribbean island at the cutting edge of the fight against the impacts of climate change, are issuing a call to action to people across the world to raise their voices in support of SIDS. Barbados is leading the SIDS green economy transition with pioneering initiatives such as its Solar Water Heater Program which has netted energy savings of between US$135.5 and US$137 million since it was first launched in the 1970s. .... You can tell others about the International Year by sharing one of the images at: un.org/en/events/islands2014/getinvolved.shtml on your social networks with the hashtag: #islands2014 Did You Know? + There are currently 32 small island developing States in three geographic regions: the Caribbean; the Pacific; and Africa, Indian Ocean and South China Sea. + These small islands have a combined population of 63.2 million people and a combined gross domestic product (GDP) of $575.3 billion. + Small islands face a unique set of challenges due to their small size and remote location. They are also highly vulnerable to climate change and natural disasters. + While they have many things in common, the standards of living among small islands differ widely, with GDP per capita ranging from $51,000 in Singapore to $830 in Comoros. + For small islands in the Pacific, tuna fisheries contribute more than 10 per cent of GDP and in some islands more than 50 per cent of their exports. Fish also contribute at least half of total animal protein intake in some small islands. + Coral reefs provide an estimated $ 375 billion per year in goods and services to the world. This includes support for marine fisheries, which provide the principal protein source for many island populations. + The Caribbean region receives more than 21 million visitors each year. If the region were a single country, it would be the third most visited in all of the Americas, behind the US and Mexico, and the 14th most visited worldwide. + Small islands are the custodians of 15, or 30 per cent, of the 50 largest exclusive economic zones. Kiribati, the largest small island developing state in terms of ocean territory, has the 13th largest exclusive economic zone on Earth. + It has often been remarked that islands make a contribution to global biodiversity that is out of proportion to their land area. In this sense, they can be thought of collectively as biodiversity “hot spots” containing some of the richest reservoirs of plants and animals on Earth. + There are no rivers in The Bahamas but the world’s third longest barrier reef and about 14. 5 per cent of the world’s coral can be found in these waters. + Several small island developing countries, including the Maldives, Tuvalu and several Caribbean island States, are working to achieve “climate neutrality” through the use of renewable energy and other approaches. + In spite of their small size, these countries have great diversity in cultures and languages with indigenous heritage (in the Pacific) as well as European, African, Arab and Asian influences. + Small islands have also given the world various music genres including reggae, zouk, mambo, danzón, bouyon, calypso, soca, reggaeton and punta. un.org/en/events/islands2014/didyouknow.shtml
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 19:46:32 +0000
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