History was made on the First Day of COP28!
During the Opening Plenary of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP), a historic decision was reached as the Loss and Damage Fund was set into motion. Within the first hour of this decision, $420 million was pledged. Notably, countries such as the UAE and Germany committed $100 million each, but the fund, crucial for supporting vulnerable nations, requires funding in the hundreds of billions.
However, unlocking the potential of this fund involves a series of essential steps. Whether it can successfully address the escalating demand from vulnerable countries grappling with the growing impact of climate change remains uncertain. The road ahead is intricate, and the fund’s ability to meet the immense needs of nations on the front lines of climate impacts is yet to be determined.
Island Innovation at COP28
Island Innovation’s CEO, James Ellsmoor, is live from COP28’s Blue Zone in Dubai (UAE).
News And Key Insights
The Island of Hope: A Stage for Island Voices at COP28 Meet the Speakers
Have you registered to receive your FREE pass to the Island of Hope? By joining us at the Island Stage on Monday you will have the opportunity to collaborate with key global actors from SIDS, donors, investors and other experts and discuss transferable solutions, capacity building strategies and best practice to accelerate climate adaption, resilience and ecosystem restoration on islands.
Meet some of the expert-speakers:
Thank you to our endorsing partners
Climate Tracker (CT) is an international non-profit organization, aiming to support, train and incentivise better climate journalism globally. We believe in the power of journalism, but recognise that many young journalists don’t have the training, resources or support to identify and tell the climate stories they want to. We also recognise that this challenge is often greatest in the countries hardest hit by climate change. Our mission is to support, train and incentivise young journalists in developing countries to tell better climate stories. By 2023, we aim to create a regionally diversified network that provides the best opportunities, training and support for early career climate journalists across Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. To do this, we focus on provide training and fellowships for young journalists around the world to tell better climate stories locally, conduct action-oriented media research to better understand the biggest challenges, trends, and obstacles to powerful climate reporting around the world, fund young journalists to report on the world’s most pressing issues and cover the world’s biggest moments, UN negotiations and conferences, and support global collaborations between young climate journalists, newsrooms and NGOs around the world.
Peace Boat
Peace Boat is a Japan-based international NGO which promotes peace, human rights, and sustainability. Established in 1983, it holds Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) of the United Nations (UN).
Peace Boat carries out its main activities through a passenger ship that travels the world. Working in partnership with UN SDG Action Campaign, Peace Boat’s activities onboard and in port empower participants, strengthen local capacity for sustainability, and build people-to-people cooperation beyond borders. The voyages, run on a social business model, blend sustainable tourism, lifelong learning and friendship activities with educational programmes, cooperative projects, and advocacy.
In 2006, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held its eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP). Recognising the specific challenges and vulnerabilities faced by islands, particularly Small Island Developing States, a programme of work was adopted specifically to significantly reduce the loss of biodiversity on islands (decision viii/1). Healthy ecosystems underpin sustainable livelihoods, health and poverty eradication.
The decision further called on “Parties to establish national, sub-regional, regional and international island partnerships that bring Governments and civil society organizations together to increase political, financial and technical support to accelerate the implementation of the programme of work on island biodiversity”.
Inspired by this call, the leaders of Palau, Seychelles, Republic of Marshall Islands, Grenada and the British Virgin Islands came together to catalyse this into reality, and the Global Island Partnership (GLISPA) was born.
The Local2030 Islands Network is the world’s first global, island-led network devoted to addressing the climate crisis by advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through locally driven, culturally informed solutions.
The Network brings together a diverse set of island nations, states, and communities from all regions of the world — islands connected through our shared island experiences, cultures and vision. Here, island leaders and experts from across jurisdictions meet as peers, working to develop and share innovative homegrown solutions that can change the world. Through the Network, islands are uniquely positioned to lead in the global effort in achieving a more resilient future for island Earth.
ClimaTalk is a youth-led non-profit organisation demystifying climate policy and empowering young people in the fight for climate action. The ClimaTalk team consists of 100+ young volunteers from 30+ countries and 6 continents.
They have so far published 400+ short and accessible climate policy articles, have created a database on youth climate lawsuits, a university courses map with hundreds of environmental courses, and have reported live from three international climate conferences. Their COP27 project is the Austrian winner of the European Charlemagne Youth Prize 2023.
They envision an empowered generation of climate policy experts and campaigners.
We’re an international non-profit founded in 2003, with offices in London, New York, New Delhi, Amsterdam and Beijing.
In that time, we’ve grown our network to include over 500 multinational businesses in 175 markets worldwide.
We also work closely with governments at all levels. The Under2 Coalition, for which we are the Secretariat, is made up of 167 state and regional governments and has been named one of the international cooperative initiatives with the highest potential for emissions reductions.
ODI is an independent, global think tank. We work to inspire people to act on injustice and inequality. Through research, convening and influencing, we generate ideas that matter for people and planet.
We lead thinking and agendas to deliver transformational change and bring about a global sense of resilient, just and equitable prosperity.
We deliver high-quality, internationally recognised research that informs policy design and convenes leadership across the global challenges identified above. We are a free thinking, inclusive and trusted think tank with a global footprint.
The Ministry of Economic Development of Curacao gives direction to sustainable economic development in order to realize a higher level of prosperity for the society of Curaçao and stimulates a strong competitive position and high quality production. This is achieved by providing optimal service, strengthening the economic structure and effectively responding to social and international developments.
The Ministry is responsible for policy, implementation and control on the following areas:
- Business, consisting of (micro) SME policy, economic development, capital market, competition policy, infrastructure, knowledge, economic and Agricultural fisheries production and business establishment policy.
- Economic Development and Innovation, consisting of market forces, innovation, energy, industry development, employment and macro-economic stability.
- Foreign Economic Cooperation, consisting of trade policy, international business and foreign investment.
Unite sustainability and creativity, recognizing, qualifying and valuing the brazilian borogodo as a strategic differential for the world. This is the foundation that underlies the creation of the Joint Office UNESCOSOST Transcriativa, a partnership to strengthen the possibilities of generating wealth and differentiating people, territories and businesses through Creative Transformation. It is the first time that a UNESCOSOST closes a gender agreement outside the university environment in Brazil.
Established in 2007 and headquartered in London, Climate Action is an independent organisation committed to facilitating collaboration to accelerate the transition to a net zero, just and sustainable world.
We run a series of industry-leading media and event platforms to help forge public-private-partnerships, bringing together CEOs, CSOs investors, politicians and city leaders to scale impact and deliver real change on the ground. Our impact-driven events include the Sustainable Innovation Forum (alongside COP), Sustainable Investment Forums (in New York and Paris), and the Climate Innovation Forum (in London).
We have a long history of successfully hosting events alongside the UN COP Negotiations having run the Sustainable Innovation Forum since COP16 in 2010. The Innovation Zone was launched at COP26 in Glasgow and returned to COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh. This will be the 3rd edition of the Climate Action Innovation Zone, running between 04-08 December 2023 alongside COP28 in Dubai.
Oceanic Global inspires us to care deeply for the ocean and provides solutions to protect it. The international NGO sheds light on humanity’s essential relationship to the ocean and empowers individuals, communities, and industries to create positive change. Oceanic Global creates educational experiences, consults on sustainable operations, and engages local communities to generate measurable impact for our collective wellbeing.
WIRRED brings solutions to complex problems by creating disruptive design systems that increase biodiversity, enhance ecosystem services, and improve the well-being of individuals and communities. Disruptive design positively intervenes and disrupts the status quo of any problem to create effective, equitable, and sustainable outcomes. By exploring the edges of our systems, we open ourselves to seeing the non-obvious opportunities that can generate profound, innovative ways to leverage change. Through ongoing research, education, design, and community partnerships WIRRED creates regenerative spaces in which individuals can connect/reconnect to the environment, while building more resilient economies, ecosystems and communities.
The NAGICO Group has been in existence since 1982 and provides a myriad of property and casualty as well as life products and risk solutions to its customers, who are situated throughout the Caribbean; it is a dynamic and versatile group.
Through an exceptional understanding of the insurance business, our customers’ needs and the environment within which we operate, combined with the excellent support of our most valuable assets: our intermediary relationships, staff and reinsurance partners, the NAGICO Group has established an impressive and formidable presence in the Caribbean; operating within 21 territories.
We are a global leading provider of audit, tax, and advisory services. With 140+ offices across the world, from which 23 offices in the Caribbean, our local presence in the Caribbean region is unmatched. By working closely together across our service lines, we offer our clients the added value they are looking for. Here, we believe in making business more personal. This gives us the ability to grow our relationship with you. Leading to richer insights, sharper advice, and more opportunities for your business
The Archipelagic and Island States (AIS) Forum is a platform designed to include island states and archipelagic countries regardless of their region, size, and development level. A global initiative that brings together 51 archipelagic and island nations to take part in a collective forum addressing challenges of ocean resource usage for sustainable economic growth, climate change resiliency, ocean pollution, emergency management, and the enhancement of sustainable fisheries.
The Caribbean Development Bank is committed to helping Borrowing Member Countries reduce inequality and halve the incidence of extreme poverty by the end of 2025, through supporting inclusive and sustainable growth and promoting good governance.
The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre coordinates the Caribbean region’s response to climate change. Officially opened in August 2005, the Centre is the key node for information on climate change issues and on the region’s response to managing and adapting to climate change in the Caribbean.
It is a repository and clearing house for regional climate change information and data and provides climate change-related policy advice and guidelines to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States through the CARICOM Secretariat. In this role, the Centre is recognised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and other international agencies as the focal point for climate change issues in the Caribbean. It has also been recognised by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) as a Centre of Excellence, one of an elite few. This reputation is a major honour for the Centre, and it should be a great source of pride for the people of the Caribbean as well.
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