SIDS-FOCUSED Green Economy: An Analysis of Challenges and Opportunities

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have placed sustainable development prominently on their agenda for twenty years, since the 1992 Earth Summit recognised the special case of SIDS. The concept of the Green Economy is a relatively new idea, which has been selected as one of the prominent themes of the Rio+20 Conference. For SIDS like other developing countries, the concept needs to be interpreted according to their individual sustainable development priorities and national economic and social conditions. At the same time, the development and implementation of a Green Economy strategy would have to be consistent with the Barbados Programme of Action and the Mauritius Strategy of Implementation that have clearly outlined the way forward in pursuit of sustainable development for SIDS. The Rio+20 Conference provides an opportunity in particular for SIDS, to start taking advantage of what a Green Economy approach might offer to them.