Michelle Scobie

The viability of small island developing states (SIDS) is threatened by three distinct processes – a backlash against globalisation; rising geopolitical competition between powers; and accelerating climate change – which are pulling at the threads binding the liberal international order together. We suggest that this order has been kinder to SIDS than is often acknowledged because its underpinning norms – sovereign equality, non-interference, and right to development – are inherently permissive and thus provide SIDS with choices rather than imperatives. Their leaders should fight for the continuation and enhancement of that order rather than be seduced by alternatives. We provide a rationale for and examples of policies to achieve this, including reforms to the way ODA is measured, debt restructured, climate finance allocated, and global governance organised. These enhancements represent the most plausible pathway for SIDS in a period of significant global upheaval. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

The viability of small island developing states (SIDS) is threatened by three distinct processes – a backlash against globalisation; rising geopolitical competition between powers; and accelerating climate change – which are pulling at the threads binding the liberal international order together. We suggest that this order has been kinder to SIDS than is often acknowledged because its underpinning norms – sovereign equality, non-interference, and right to development – are inherently permissive and thus provide SIDS with choices rather than imperatives. Their leaders should fight for the continuation and enhancement of that order rather than be seduced by alternatives. We provide a rationale for and examples of policies to achieve this, including reforms to the way ODA is measured, debt restructured, climate finance allocated, and global governance organised. These enhancements represent the most plausible pathway for SIDS in a period of significant global upheaval. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

This book provides an in-depth analysis of global environmental governance in the Anthropocene in the context of transformative environmental change and of the realities of Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS). It explores the dynamic ways that global to local actors, institutions and norms relate to regional and local environmental policy, histories and contexts, and how this shapes future environmental outcomes for some of the most biodiverse regions of the planet. Global Environmental Governance and Small Statesfills a gap in the existing international relations and environmental governance literature. It explains how and where regional and local social, economic, geophysical, legal and historical contexts interact with global environmental governance architectures, norms and state and non-state actors, to determine the nature of SIDS' environmental perspectives, responses and policies. Using the Anthropocene as the historical context, the volume examines the most pressing issues for small states' perspectives and international responses to environmental challenges. Key among these are those associated with climate change, tourism, marine governance, energy security, cultural heritage and trade. This book will be an invaluable tool for academics and scholars of international relations, international politics, global environmental governance, international development, Caribbean affairs and regional governance. Its insights will also be of benefit for diplomats, development partners, policymakers and political actors working with and in Caribbean States, and SIDS, more widely.