Small island developing States are a special case because of their high vulnerability to climate change. A quarter of their population lives up to five metres above sea level, which continues to rise and threaten the very existence of some of these countries such as Samoa, Tuvao, St. Kitts and others in the Caribbean Sea as well as in Polynesia and the coasts of Africa.

Added to this is the fact that many of them have external debts that consume a large part of their resources and prevent them from making progress in mitigating the phenomenon and reducing disaster risks. Faced with this reality, small island developing states on Friday signed a declaration in which they highlighted the devastation they suffer continuously due to the adverse impacts of climate change, which is not limited to major disasters.

She also called for international assistance to invest in resilient infrastructure and access financing. The document was adopted during the high-level meeting to Review the Accelerated Action Modalities for Small Island Developing States, also known as the Samoan Path because they were agreed in Samoa in 2014.

The Samoan Trajectory is a development plan in which States committed themselves to, inter alia, expediting the advancement of basic services to the population, the creation of jobs, the construction of public works and the protection of the environment and human rights. The document also includes a "broad call for international support to implement the plan”.

At the event, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres recalled that these countries require "long-term attention and investment by the entire international community, especially to help them mitigate the effects of climate change and prevent them from slowing down their development”.

Mr. Guterres stressed "the horror and backwardness of destruction caused by disasters caused by phenomena exacerbated by global warming. I have seen it in Barbuda and Dominica and more recently in the Bahamas. Hurricane Dorian was hell on earth”.

Guterres noted that small island states have led global ambitions and efforts against the climate threat, in line with the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and referred to the commitment they made at the Climate Action Summit in recent weeks to achieve carbon neutrality and operate 100 percent with renewable energy by 2030.

"But the climate accumulates injustice over injustice," he regretted, alluding to the virtually zero contribution of these countries to global warming.

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