UN General Assembly
2020

In recent years SIDS, backed by academic research have advocated for the establishment and use of a vulnerability index, already developed by the Commonwealth in 1989, as a more accurate determinant of eligibility for concessional development assistance. Yet nothing has changed. Our wealth is still being determined by per capita GDP, though we know now categorically that this is not an accurate measure. At meeting upon meeting, all we receive are platitudes and more talk. Meanwhile, the storms and hurricanes, the crises and the pandemics, keep coming regardless. We are disproportionally asked to carry the burden of major shocks which are caused by actions outside of our control. With every additional shock we become more indebted and dependent and it will soon become impossible for us to survive within these fixed rules that are created without taking into account our exceptional circumstances. Unfortunately, the same obtains with the issue of Climate Change. For the SIDS, the Paris Agreement, though well intended, has just not delivered.