Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have historically achieved significant, if volatile, growth due to an open global economy, favourable geopolitical context and a less hostile climate.Today, these three pillars are breaking down. Globalisation is on the retreat, geopolitical instability has returned, and climate change is accelerating. The exogenous economic and environmental shocks that SIDS disproportionately face are only likely to intensify over the coming decade.

Resolving this challenge – and generating resilient prosperity – requires a strong enabling environment and significant financial support.

This side event will set out an agenda for financing resilient prosperity in SIDS over the next decade. It will include reflections from high-level speakers on the scale of policy reforms that are required to ensure development and climate finance is fully responsive to the needs and special situation of SIDS. The ODI-RESI team will present research findings on the challenges but also efforts made by SIDS to manage debt sustainably. They will propose a set of concrete actions, reforms and mechanisms to improve access to affordable finance, so SIDS can better cope with shocks, manage debt sustainably, and make necessary investments to build the climate-resilient, climate-friendly, high-skilled, competitive economies of the future. An expert panel will reflect on the viability of recommendations and how these can be taken forward.