By Angela Walker
While islands have long conjured up images of "paradise", they have been treated as exploitable colonies, toxic waste dumping grounds, nuclear testing grounds and strategic sites for military bases.
Henry Kissinger reportedly said in 1969, referring to the Marshall Islands as a test site for ballistic weapons, "There are only 90,000 people out there. Who gives a damn?"
However, small island states have organised against stereotypes of backward and expendable "paradises" and are now at the forefront of global pressure to address the growing environmental crisis, particularly on the question of climate change.
Regional forums in the early 1990s became the catalyst for international debate among Pacific nations and led them to join forces with the Association of Small Islands States, a bloc of nations from the Caribbean and Indian Ocean. AOSIS played a role in ensuring that the concerns of small island countries were reflected in Agenda 21, adopted at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.
The first Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States was held in Bridgetown, Barbados, from April 25 to May 6 this year. In attendance were representatives of 111 countries, including 14 heads of state or government.
Participants adopted a statement of principles, the "Barbados Declaration", which expresses a commitment to fostering sustainable development and affirms that "the international community has a responsibility to facilitate the efforts of small island developing states to minimise the stress on their fragile ecosystems".
The conference also adopted a Program of Action focusing upon a number of agreed priority areas, and defining policies related to environment and development planning that should be undertaken by small island developing states with the cooperation and assistance of the international community.
The priority areas are climate change and sea-level rises; natural and environmental disasters; waste management; coastal, marine, land, energy and freshwater resources; tourism; biodiversity; national and regional institutions; transport and communications; science and technology; and human resources development.
Speakers at the conference noted that small island developing states were "front-line" areas, uniquely vulnerable to climate change, external economic factors and threats to their cultural and biological diversity. Climate change and sea-level rise are of grave concern because many small island developing states are entirely coastal entities.
In regard to natural and environmental disasters, at least 13 of the 25 most disaster-prone countries are small island developing states. Natural disasters are of special concern to such countries because of the pervasive impact of such events on their people, environment and economies, including loss of insurance coverage. The impact of oil spills and other environmental disasters could also be severe.
Waste management problems were also addressed. Both land and sea-based sources of pollution require urgent attention. Pollution from industrial wastes and sewage, poorly managed dumps and toxic chemical disposal all contribute to marine pollution and coastal degradation. There is a need for small island developing states to examine ways to convert wastes, including sewage, into useful resources such as fertiliser for agriculture.
There was also concern about the cross-boundary movement of toxic and hazardous waste, including the use of small island states for the disposal of waste generated by other countries.
The Program of Action recommends that regional action should include disposal of existing hazardous wastes with the technical assistance of developed countries and international acceptance of the right of small states to regulate or ban the importation of products containing hazardous substances and to prohibit the cross-boundary movement of hazardous and radioactive wastes.
The resolution on energy resources notes the dependence of small island developing states on imported petroleum and indigenous biomass fuels. Current fuel uses tend to be highly inefficient. It recommends that states develop environmentally sound sources of energy and energy-efficient technologies, paying special attention to the possibilities of using economic instruments and incentive structures, as well as new and renewable energy sources.
The well-known diversity of species of small islands is among the most threatened in the world as a result of such factors as deforestation, coral reef deterioration and the introduction of non-indigenous species. To protect their biodiversity, the draft program recommends that small island states ratify and implement the Convention on Biological Diversity and other relevant legal instruments. They should also generate and maintain buffer stocks or gene banks of biogenetic resources for reintroduction into their natural habitat, especially in the case of post-disaster restoration and rehabilitation.
One of the most contentious issues to be addressed at the conference was whether international financing to support sustainable development in small islands would be limited to existing resources, as many donor countries wished. Small island countries stressed that "new and additional" financing was necessary.