Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)

Partnerships for Conservation

Since its founding, AOSIS has held a number of international conferences on climate change and related issues, issuing statements on vulnerability and adaptation, renewable energy development, and restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions in partnership with the leading developed states of the world. In 1996, a public hearing was held in Luxembourg on climate change and small island states, which aimed to stimulate partnership in specific commitments for carbon dioxide reductions with the European Union and the ACP (African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States). This was followed in 1999 by a workshop on the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), held in the Marshall Islands with invited guests from larger states with similar coastal concerns, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway.

Early Warning System

Since the early 1990s, ecologist and biologists have warned of the increasing danger of climate change to small island states, particularly those with limited highland areas, and those with few resources to combat meteorological disasters. These states have been viewed as a sort of early warning system for global environmental problems. By their very nature as islands, the ecosystems of these island states are isolated and vulnerable to change. AOSIS hopes to draw the attention of the world's larger states to a number of related issues, from support of tourism to wildlife conservation.

In biogeography, island theory focuses on the importance of equilibrium in these delicate environments, both for human and animal populations—the greater the isolation, the higher the risk. Moreover, conservation goals in such underdeveloped island states are often at odds with sustainable development goals.

AOSIS is run through the diplomatic missions of its UN members. Every three years one of these representatives takes on the role of chairman, but there is no formal charter, nor any regular budget. Collectively representing about 20 percent of UN total membership and 5 percent of global population, AOSIS is emerging as a leader in the global effort to control climate change.

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