Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are amongst the most vulnerable to climate change impacts. This is due to their geographic isolation and exposure to coastal and maritime threats. Such climatic related impacts will exacerbate pre-existing development challenges especially within coastal communities, maritime industries, and in urban clusters. Extreme weather events are already impacting coastal infrastructure and natural resource livelihoods.

Projected sea level rise and coastal inundation will affect human well-being and major economic sectors including fisheries, agriculture and tourism. For instance, climatic hazards will influence tourist's perception of recreational amenities and choice of destination regarding heat tolerance and welfare. In addition, changing weather patterns will alter the duration and intensity of seasonal floods and drought and ensuing food production. Other concerns about coral bleaching and loss of fisheries affect seafood production and related industries. Associated with these are institutional adaptation needs in addressing biophysical vulnerability to coastal infrastructure, human settlements, livelihoods and the human capacity to cope and be resilient.

Policy highlights:

• The high level of climate change vulnerability in SIDS requires an interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder research partnership that mobilizes knowledge for local action
• The GIVRAPD project fills this research gap by discerning the various socioeconomic, governance and environmental conditions that shape vulnerability and adaptive capacity within small and medium sized coastal communities. Research foci centre around four policy dimensions: climate science, coastal vulnerability, micro-finance, and governance; all crucial for the practice of adaptation interventions.
• Lessons from four leaning sites in the Caribbean (Jamaica and St. Lucia) and SW Indian Ocean (Mauritius and Seychelles) are compelling for potential replication and scaling-out of climate change adaptation best practices in SIDS

Picture: Sofitel So Mauritius