It should come as no surprise that small island developing
states (SIDS) are taking the helm and navigating the waters of
climate change. Without a binding global agreement that takes
their needs into proper consideration, many of them are choosing
to act in their own interests rather than go down with the
climate ship – not because it’s altruistic, but because it is
necessary to help pay the cost of adaptation to climate change,
which is a problem to which they contributed little in the first
place. Fortunately, support mechanisms are being established to
boost these efforts. Aamong them are the Low-Carbon Energy
Roadmaps that Worldwatch is currently undertaking for countries
like the Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Haiti. Of course,
island countries must be proactive. As Jon Barnett and John
Campbell note in their book, Climate Change and Small Island
States, the discussion around climate change and its
repercussions has framed island states as “vulnerable,”
suggesting that they cannot fend for themselves a