Hello and welcome to the SG media zone.

My name is Martin Saman. I'm with the UN

Department of Global Communications. We

are live from the UN Ocean Conference

here in Nice, France. Our next session

is moderated by Kate Brown, executive

director with Global Islands

Partnerships. Over to you. Thank you.

>> Thank you so much. And what a wonderful

opportunity we have here today to talk

um very specifically about SIDS ocean

leadership. And I have a great panel. Um

I'm going to actually move quite quickly

into the panel. We've seen actually a

lot of commitments and announcements in

the SID space over the last couple of

days including um earlier in the week

and we're going to hear about some of

those examples and some of that

leadership today. Uh firstly I'll

introduce our panel. So we have

Ambassador P Lutu who is uh Samoa's

permanent representative to the United

Nations and uh a longtime diplomat. Uh

we also have Miss um Francine Pickup,

UNDP's deputy assistant administrator

and deputy director for the bureau for

policy and program support and the head

of the UMDP delegation for UNO 3. Um so

welcome to you and also uh Rebecca

Fabrissi, the UK's SIDS envoy and the

deputy director for the Americas and

head of the Caribbean and SIDS

department for the FCDO. So welcome to

all of you. Um, I'm going to ask you a

few questions and then we're going to

give an opportunity to people and the

audience to ask questions. So, moving

first to you, Ambassador Luteru. Uh,

Samour has long championed the ocean as

a crosscutting development priority, and

we've heard some big announcements and

some real leadership from Samour in the

last week. How is Samour integrating

ocean governance into its broader

national sustainable development

strategies particularly in alignment

with the Antigga and Barbuda agenda for

SIDS or ABBAS?

>> Hello. Is it on?

>> Okay. Well, thank you. Thank you very

much for the uh question and uh it's

such a a privilege to be here among all

these uh you know distinguished ladies.

Uh I I think it's a flop from the normal

uh in the past. So it's I think it's

it's great. But on the question uh let

let me say that u Simo is very much uh

supportive of some of the international

um agreement and treaty uh which governs

the ocean. One of which is as we all

know the uh constitution of the ocean is

uh UNL the United Nation uh

sorry uh convention on the law of the

sea. uh we we we support that. We also

have the uh CBD and as you uh also

pointed out the issue of Abbas uh and

the uh what that means is Antigua and

Barbuda agenda for six. So that will

govern small island development states u

development for uh the next uh nine

years now. uh but in in the context of

uh my own country, we view uh ocean

governance as extremely important and

and later on I I will speak to the

global impact of ocean governance. But

within our own context, we have set up

what we call SOS,

which stands for Samoa Ocean Strategy

and that is very important in the

context of national policy and also how

we coordinate uh with other sectors uh

of the economy because it's important

you've got to take a holistic approach

and in recognition of that we we had set

set up an ocean governance committee

which is responsible it's multi- uh sort

of ministries uh and it's chaired by uh

foreign affairs uh as well as the

ministry of natural resources

uh and the environment so we're looking

at that I think it it was also important

to ensure

that some of our uh policies and uh

commitment uh For example, in terms of

the 3030, uh we we are very much

supportive of that. We're setting the

target of 2030 in terms of achievement

uh of uh the 3030. So it's something

moving forward. I think we also uh have

set up a marine uh spatial uh sort of

policy and we're looking at how that is

also going to impact but also more

importantly is the uh you know local

community participation uh in our case

our local community our village uh

committees are very much uh engage in

that process but I have to say this uh

it it's really the what we call the

village women's committee that is the

main driver I I know if there are other

Pacific islands or around they will

recognize that that is an extremely

important sort of part of the process in

terms of how we implement and I want to

say that you know policies are are all

very good and I think it's a starting

point and you got to make sure that they

are relevant and applicable. But I think

the test is really at the grassroot

level. It's the implementation of those

policies and unless you have people who

are committed to that process, it's very

difficult to to achieve anything. So

that is uh very much uh something that

we're looking at. And then just to say

that uh ABBAS is uh something and I was

involved in that process. I I was one of

the as the chair of the alliance of

small island state we sort of we were

the pen holder but one of the key things

there is and I mentioned this and and

then one other issue and then I'll

finish because I know my my my other

colleagues would want to speak is that

you know for us small island developing

states the issue of what you can do

yourself in terms of any challenge that

we face is extremely important and that

involves a change in mindset. Uh so we

saying look you know we're not going to

go to our partners and just put our hand

out as we have done in the past. We have

to say to ourself well what can we in

the you know as countries bring to the

table that our partner also wants to to

benefit from. So you then have a much

better chance of sustainability of that

partnership. So that is something that

uh you know we have done and if you read

through the Abbas one when we spoke

about partnership the first thing that

is mentioned is sits sits partnership is

in recognition of that mind change and

then finally just to say a few words

about this issue of the ocean governance

globally. I think some of you will be

aware of some of the development that

are taking place at the moment. Um I

think uh you know the US for example has

put out executive order in terms of uh

deep sea mining and that's of great

concern to us. Uh some of you from the

European side would would would know

that uh we we negotiate the OACP, the

African Caribbean Pacific and the EU

agreement. We all sign up when we

discuss the issue of deep sea mining and

that is nothing will proceed unless we

have carried out the proper

investigation scientific to provide the

evidence that it's safe to engage in

that space. Well, everyone of you know

those who are party to that agreement

which is now called Samo agreement would

know that but I I think I'll end here.

Sorry to take a little bit longer. Thank

you.

>> No, thank you. That was wonderful. And

also um Samour is really my second home.

So it's wonderful to hear all the

progress that is being made there. I'm

going to um ask the next question to um

Francine. So UNDP has launched a new

SIDS 2.0 offer which is very exciting

and what is really at the core of that

offer. It would be great to hear and how

does it help UNDP to support inclusive

and integrated development and SIDS. So

we heard a little bit of that from

Ambassador Luturu but really towards the

implementation of the Antigga and

Barbuda action strategy.

>> Thank you very much Kate and uh it's

also wonderful to be part of this

discussion. Um so yeah as UNDP I mean

we've been working proudly working with

SIDS in SIDS uh for 60 years now and

what we've seen is that SIDS I mean the

title of this session today is about

leadership by SIDS and SIDS really are

leaders uh they're leaders at the

forefront of the uh fight against

climate change protecting nature and

they're also

uh producing some of the most exciting

innovations in uh working for example on

on innovative finance something that's

the subject of discussion here in Nice

um and they've been pioneering uh an

integrated whole of Ireland approach and

so for us as UNDP we've seen our role

and we continue to see our role as

supporting SIDS governments and other

partners stakeholders within SIDS

in realizing that ambition because SIDS

are at the forefront of the challenges

like climate change. They face the most

serious shocks uh not only from climate

but also uh financial uh challenges due

to indebtedness and lack of access to

finance. So um so we see our role as

supporting SIDS in in that ambition that

they are leading. Um I think the SIDS

offer that we've recently launched

following the uh Abbass agreement that

the ambassador referred to is really

trying to step up our commitment to

SIDS. And so it's it's continuing the

the work that we've done uh in SIDS in

the past. But I think if I were to say

uh what's new about the the new

strategy? Well, it's fully aligned with

the 10 pillars of Abbas and the three uh

sort of uh priorities of Abbas around

people, planet and prosperity.

Um but I would say its focus is really

on supporting um SIDS in their work on

uh nature and climate but really as well

the means of implementation what we call

the means of implementation which is

about accessing finance uh badly need

finance to do this work. You know, the

challenge for many of the SIDS is that,

you know, they they face uh these shocks

like natural disasters. uh they take out

loans to respond and then they because

of the in high interest rates and they

do face higher interest rates than their

non-SIDs counterparts LDC's or MIC's

uh they become indebted and therefore

it's more challenging to invest in

future right so um I think the the new

strategy is particularly focused on

supporting SIDS in accessing finance uh

as well as uh issues such as digital

readiness how we can accelerate um uh

STGS through through digital

infrastructure. That's really important

in some of the remote sites. I think

that's what uh distinguishes this new

strategy from the work we've done in the

past.

>> That's wonderful. I know in the Pacific

region um in terms of digital there's a

lot of um places that are way behind the

rest of the world. So that's great to

hear. Um, so I'm going to move now to

Rebecca and ask you a question really

about um, more from the UK perspective.

As you can see, the ocean plays a really

vital role in SID's development, and

we're hearing some really great

examples, but how does the UK help SIDS

to integrate the value of the ocean um,

to support their resilience journey?

>> Um, thanks very much. It's a great

question and um thanks very much also

for the opportunity to be here with such

a great panel. Um so yeah, the ocean's

really important to SIS. It's really

important to us as well, I should say.

The UK is a maritime state. We totally

understand the value, the importance of

the ocean for prosperity and for

resilience. Um and then for SIDS, of

course, I mean, we really realize that

SIDs have a lot of common challenges,

but they're not all the same. And that

multifaceted tailored approach is really

important and working partnership is

really important as well. Um so I just I

think I'll mention three aspects um of

our work. So first we connect oceans to

resilience through global advocacy

efforts um which include working to

reform the international financial

system to make it better meet the needs

of um SIDS and other groups as well um

and to support better management of the

ocean. And the UK's really consistently

advocated to improve access to essential

finance. absolutely agree that this is

really at the heart of the matter and

the quality of aid as well to help SIDS

utilize and manage those ocean resources

in a sustainable way. Um so u as an

example at SIDS 4 which incredibly it's

a whole year ago as ambassador's just

mentioned we've only got nine years left

with the ABBAS um members of AOSIS and

the OECD um development assistance

committee um we we worked as leadership

working really closely with Ambassador

Luteru actually at the time um to launch

a pioneering partnership for action to

deliver solutions to SID's challenges

and that included on access to finance

um capacity building and ocean economies

as well, the priorities that were

identified um by SIDS as being really

important to them. Um and we've also

demonstrated uh global leadership on

protecting and restoring the marine

environment. So including on co-leading

that global ocean alliance to support

the agreement of the 30 by30 target. So

within Quimming Montreal um glo global

biodiversity framework. And then second,

um, helping SIDS grow those blue

economies, um, to support economic

resilience and sustainable management of

oceans. Um, we've got a sustainable blue

economies program and that's working to

improve livelihoods and strengthen the

capacity to manage the ocean. And we've

also been helping to launch a major um,

new ADB blue finance, blue Pacific

finance hub to leverage ocean

investments um, strengthening that blue

economy and enabling projects that help

to build resilience. And this is really

recognizing the fact that you know the

ocean is really a huge proportion of

resources that SIDs have got available.

And then thirdly partnering with SIDS on

climate adaptation safeguarding those

futures of local communities. And we

really recognize that what what there's

a really big data challenges on climate

adaptation and we've been championing

integrating science and data into

decision- making. So we're doing work

such as through UK institutions like the

Met Office, the British Antarctic Survey

and National Oceanographic Center and

helping to provide enhanced monitoring,

projection of sea level rise into near

future and sort of over seven centuries

research on extreme weather events,

flood risk, flood impacts and

assessments of really effective

adaptation options. So we're really

working to align that support with the

priorities of SIDS working in

partnership. I think that's Sid Sid's

partnership. Yeah, it's really important

donor's partnership and really listening

to SIDS's needs. Um, so we want to work

to really unlock that blue economy

potential and make sure that oceans are

healthy and productive for SIDS and for

all the rest of us as well.

>> Wonderful. Thank you so much. Um, and we

I'm going to acknowledge and welcome um

Ambassador Tanya Ramoaldo from Kabul

Verde. Um, really happy that you were

able to join us. It is can be tough

getting here. [laughter]

So I really appreciate that you've um

made it here. Uh so also in Kaba Verde

you're taking bold steps in blue

finance. So we've heard a little bit

about that also this week. Um ex

including looking at a second sovereign

blue bond, blue carbon bond. How is your

government making sure that the proceeds

from uh innovative financing mechanisms

like this actually directly support

local communities? And I think

Ambassador Terry really ch um spoke

about the importance of local

communities in a SIDS context

particularly um for youth and women and

coastal livelihoods. So could you tell

us a little bit about that?

>> Yes, thank you and I'm happy I made it.

It's a pleasure to be on this panel with

such wonderful people in the room. Yes.

Uh Kabert is about to launch the second

edition of the blue bonds. uh the

government believes that uh this must go

much beyond macroeconomics because uh

the financing should have real and

immediate impact on the local

communities of course in particular on

women and youth. So uh financing is

going to projects that are being led by

the community itself with some guidance

when and if necessary while we are also

uh investing in capacity building. Um uh

ambassador uh Lutero just mentioned the

importance of the seats seats

corporation uh at the Abbas uh we just

well not just because it's a year

already now it went so fast at the

center of excellence for sits in a sits

and with sits so uh this was designed uh

for purpose of sets fit for sets um when

um I have to go to my notes notes now.

[laughter]

Uh no, I was I was uh actually um yes

going to mention the the the challenges

that we face because um with uh the

depth uh that it's uh usually have um

much of the funding that should go to

the achievement of the SDGs is going

elsewhere because of the rate and also

because uh of um the unpredicted

phenomenon. that affect us from time to

time. Um, another issue that is of of

very great importance is the

coordination among the seats themselves.

So, we all know that the Pacific are

doing this very well with PIFF. The

Caribbean seats have uh their CARICOM.

And now I'm very happy to share that uh

last 15 and 16th May uh we hosted an IE

sits meeting in Kabu

uh and that we finally also launched a I

sits coordination mechanism. uh so we

believe that this will help uh this

particular group of sits which is not

only different for not being a

geographical group as the other two

because it's Atlantic Indic and then all

the way up to the south sea of China

uh but uh now we also have uh this

mechanism that was lacking um at the

same time Kabuvert not only the blue

bonds but also the the depth swaps

they are uh playing an important role

because through them uh we have a very

good example with Portugal which started

in 23 uh depth is being changed uh or

exchanged into a fund for climate for

nature. So uh this fund is then being uh

applied in projects that have again

direct impact on local community with a

particular emphasis on women and youth.

>> Thank you so much ambassador. I'm going

to um ask some very brief other

questions now and then enable us to move

into the questions so that people uh in

the audience can um ask some answer ask

some questions. Uh so talking turning to

you ambassador ter so you're one of the

countries that are is participating in

the blue and green islands integrated

program. Uh how are you leveraging that

platform and other local initiatives to

integrate nature-based solutions? So

it's another look at kind of integration

um and to attract further public and

private investment in ocean positive

development.

Well, yes. Um,

perhaps uh I'd like to focus on the last

part of the question. uh I I think some

of my colleagues have sort of spoken to

the first part or at least mentioned

some of that but I I want to to uh focus

on the second part which is to attract

further public and uh private financing

and the reason for that is it's it's one

of our major challenge uh in the Pacific

and if you look at SG14

the least funded uh it's 01 one

uh percent uh of funding goes to the

ocean. Uh it says a lot. So I I I think

I would like just to uh very quickly uh

speak to that. But before I do that, I'd

like to just uh uh mention very briefly

uh the issue that you raised and that is

the u the blue green islands integrated

uh program.

uh we are part of 15 countries uh who

makes up that uh program but we have our

own individual

uh project within the wider uh program

that you you you mentioned. Um and uh

you know the the issue of naturebased

solution is something that we are very

conscious of um because of the

importance in terms again I go to what I

said earlier on about the whole

sorry the key being uh effective

implementation of these various

activities uh on the ground. So the the

areas that we are currently benefiting

from and and the the fund comes from

some of you would be aware the GEF the

CHF um and that's going towards

supporting uh our infrastructure

uh ecosystem

uh restoration and then coastal uh

tourism that those are very important um

and uh you know we often and I'm sure

some of you have heard this phrase that

uh you know some of our donors have have

have said to us and I'm very happy there

two of them on my left hand side that

you should leave it grant okay for

additional financing

um I think we agree you know in

principle sounds very nice uh it's it's

you know very attractive as well and uh

but the reality is it's very difficult

unless

the do the the grand um giver is also

able to work with potential uh lenders

to ensure

that when you go to see them that the

time it takes for them to go through

their process is not two or three years

because by then what are you going to

do? you have the grant for example but

then you have to look for that other 50

or whatever percentage that you need to

fully fund the project. So I think you

know diversity is important in terms of

financing

and I say that word diversity because we

as sits have recognized this uh for a

very long time and some of you will have

heard the issue of the multi-dimensional

vulnerability index and and that was

something that we have been fighting for

for the last 30 odd years And you might

uh ask the question well why do you want

that? Again I think it goes to the

principle that we also want to help

ourselves. So by uh having this uh it's

a new metrics and the metrics is

primarily to measure our vulnerability

um due to not only natural uh disasters

etc etc but other shocks you know

economic in nature you know and so

forth. So we the intention and the use

which we had intended the MVI for was

one to assist our partners in terms of

the allocation of grant you know as you

know uh our partners basically use the

GNI GDP

uh measure to allocate resources and

this you know I mean that's fine but

what it does is that we believe that if

you use the MVI it compl implements the

GDP and it's very much in line with the

call by the secretary general as some of

you are aware the call for be going

beyond the GDP. So that's very much in

line with that.

The second issue I want to raise is that

the MVI was also intended

uh to contribute to the establishment

of a sustainable

debt regime that will help developing

countries. And and the issue here is as

you know I think uh somebody mentioned

uh the issue or the dilemma that we face

as small uh countries between meeting

your SG obligation

and uh paying your debt and that's not

an easy place to be. Um and therefore

what we want is to look at this whole

issue of debt and we understand we

understand but you know we feel that the

MVI will help because if a hurricane

hits your country especially if you're

small set you back 20 years in terms of

the development there so you you got to

also be realistic. So and the third

aspect was really to assist our IFIs,

MDPs uh and other financial institution

in terms of concessional financing

access to concessional finance. Some of

you would be aware that uh you know

developing countries are paying four

five times more than some countries in

terms of that. So all we're asking for

is a slightly even playing field in

terms of access to these resources. So

you can see uh that you know uh small

island states including our sister here

that uh we've been trying to sort of

from our own experience based on our own

experience trying to see what we can

contribute to this challenge that we

face and and therefore looking at the

totality of the um of the financing uh

issue uh you know private and and

public. Uh I think it's important and

and this is where we also appeal to our

partners especially UK, the US to help

us in terms of perhaps uh uh exerting

some influence on on the boards of some

of these IFIs and MDPs so that they can

recognize the importance of the uh MVI

metrics in terms of complementing their

own not to replace but to compliment.

Thank you.

>> Thank you so much. Um we have a very

short uh time left. Um and I'd like to

let all each of you um the last three

speakers have a minute or so to kind of

give some um kind of closing summary or

at least some thoughts. Um if you could

start uh Francine.

>> Okay. So I think uh for us uh as I said

we're committed to moving forward in

supporting the SIDS. They are at the

forefront of of change and innovation.

Moving forward I see that in three three

uh levels. One is at the planning stage.

So SIDS really as I said are at the

forefront of developing ambitious NDC's

supporting biodiversity through the NB

SAPS coming up with these marine plans

that we discussing this week. Uh we're

supporting them in in in that ambition

and making sure that we can uh uh work

on these in an integrated way. So

looking at how for example oceans can

support climate ambition and then on the

financing which the ambassador mentioned

we're really focused on seeing how

through initiatives like the uh global

fund for the coral reefs or um through

other initiatives we can support the

leveraging of grant money uh to attract

private and and other public funds

because that's really really critical.

Um and one of the initiatives that was

uh sort of launched this week at least

in the co-design uh to inviting co uh

partners to co-design with us is this

one ocean finance facility which is

precisely going beyond a reliance on ODA

and getting users whether it's the the

fishing companies or the those who lay

the cables or but those who big

industries the shipping industries to to

to pay to use uh the ocean and So it's

about shifting that behavior of the

private sector. So they are also paying

uh paying. So that's a a new facility

that is very innovative in its approach

in trying to bring more money into this

space. And then uh the implementation is

so critical. So the blue and green

islands uh uh program that the

ambassador referred to uh funded by uh

Jeff with the lead agency uh

implementing that with some other

agencies as well. It's really trying to

foster that integrated approach so that

we can support communities to build

their resilience while they do that

important job of protecting the ocean

and the biodiversity.

>> Wonderful. Thank you so much. Um and

Rebecca um maybe you could touch on in

your closing uh one minute um strengthen

donor alignment and coordination and

SIDS that that is a challenge but I'll

give that

>> yeah great well I mean in one minute um

I think it is the key thing actually I

mean we have to be more efficient right

we know that the availability of

concessional finance it's it's not

growing so on the contrary so we have to

be much more efficient I think there's a

lot of duplication a lot of burdening

countries that really have quite um a

small capacity through no fault of their

own but just they're quite small. Um so

they are overburdened and of course it

shouldn't be left to Samoa to work out

how to leverage a grant. You know that

there has to be help with supporting

capacity getting projects properly

identified ready prepared other

institutions making sure that they are

working to get that money in and

creating um real packages that work for

everybody. So we have to be more

efficient and just to mention I mean a

couple of things we work quite hard with

AOSIS in Canada and published a couple

of years ago some principles on

effective development impact in SIDS

that we would like to um see taken up

more widely and we've been doing a lot

of work and others have too there's been

some great um leadership from developing

countries in the area on country

platforms where we really identify gaps

and where the capacity building is most

needed so it can be targeted um to

really help that work effectively.

Thanks.

>> Thank you so much, Rebecca. And um

Ambassador Ramoaldo uh with one with

your final

brief remarks

>> very briefly on the blue and green

island programs is leveraging it as a

strategic platform to scale up nature

positive solutions that are locally an

anchored uh and socially inclusive. Um,

we are also integrating climate

resilience into our food system through

support for climate smart agriculture

and sustainable fishery that prioritize

local value chains. In tourism, we are

working to transition towards echomodel

uh tourism

uh that involve the local communities.

For example, um the fish uh is preserved

and transformed into not only delicious

dishes at the local restaurant in the

small familyowned uh hotel but also

prepared so that those families tourists

not only can take uh some of it home uh

and share the experience uh with with

their families. uh I'm I'm just giving a

small example for example with um fruits

and vegetables uh they are conserved

they are transformed into local

delicacies but that can still be

exported for short term because there

are not so much uh conservants uh added

to them. uh and usually these kind of uh

jobs it creates jobs is familyowned

women led youth participating our youth

brings into all of that their um

experience and capacity in for example

dealing with digital tools to promote to

have the websites where you can order

and so on. Yeah,

>> that's very quickly.

>> Thank you so much. I think um we can

agree this has been an amazing panel.

There's some amazing solutions. There's

support um for moving forward and SIDS

ocean leadership. Thank you to all of

you for um your wise words and thank you

to our audience for listening for the

last 30 minutes. Thank you.

[applause]