UN General Assembly
2013

I therefore reiterate the call made in Agenda 21 for a more holistic and comprehensive set of indicators for classifying States. Grenada endorses support for low- income and fragile economies. Moreover, it is clear that several of the SIDS newly promoted to middle-income status continue to struggle with high debt burdens, which are worsened by climate change and high fossil- fuel import bills. Many SIDS also struggle with low productivity and low levels of competitiveness and with severe financial constraints, and, in some cases, they struggle with limited prospects for immediate growth. The point is that per capita income used as a sole measure without the context of climate vulnerability does more harm than good. To illustrate that point, as damaging as Hurricanes Sandy and Katrina were to the United States economy, the costs ran between 0.5 per cent and 2 per cent of the gross domestic product of the United States. That is in sharp contrast to the costs of between 20 per cent and 200 per cent of gross domestic product when hurricanes hit island economies.