Elevating AIS Forum Collaboration for Sustainable and Healthy Oceans

The majority of archipelagic and island states have been confronted with economic, and environmental hardships that affect capacities to attain their national and global development objectives. In recent years, the rapid effects of climate change (extreme weather, rising sea level, ocean acidification, and coral bleaching) coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic have aggravated existing problems, created numerous barriers, and imposed even higher costs for development.

Small island countries, in particular, have been among the worst hit by these multiple crises. The COVID-19 pandemic alone has resulted in a drop of small island countries’ GDP by 6.9%, compared to the average GDP drop among developing countries, which around 4.8% (IMF, 2020). The decline in international tourism, which estimated around 60 to 80% in the first and second year of the pandemic, has been argued to contribute to the significant economic loss of the small island countries. Other sectors of the ocean economy, such as fisheries, have also been heavily impacted. The reduction in global fishing efforts reduce potential income and place additional cost to support fishermen’s finances and livelihoods during the pandemic.

The tumultuous multiple crises and disruptions are certainly a distress signal and a wake-up call. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that innovative solutions and international collaboration are needed now more than ever to build back better and more sustainably leaving no one behind in the process. The crises also place archipelagic and island nations at a unique position to be the driving force. As an open-ended, inclusive, and development-focused ocean cooperation platform, the AIS Forum should utilize this unique opportunity to strengthen and elevate collaboration efforts and identify best strategies in allocating resources in effective and efficient manner. The AIS Forum should elevate these collaborative actions to the next level.

The results of the 2nd and the 3rd Ministerial Meetings of the AIS Forum have placed a concrete foundation for the AIS Forum moving forward. In 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the AIS Forum has placed considerable interest on sustainable ecotourism and highlighted the importance of scaling back on mass tourism and shifting focus toward sustainability. The meetings have also strongly suggested that the blue economy be the leverage to further collaboration among AIS Forum participating countries. More importantly, the Ministerial Meetings mandated Indonesia to elevate discussion on the future framework of the AIS Forum through the meeting of the Leaders of the AIS Forum participating countries.

At a time when public finances are under more strain than ever, the mandate given to the AIS Forum secretariat to develop, identify, and accelerate the use of innovative and sustainable financial instruments of the blue economy demonstrate a far-reaching insight of the AIS Forum. The blue economy presents an opportunity for archipelagic and island states to make a “blue” recovery which puts them on a path to achieving SDG 14 and several other interrelated SDGs. The compounding stress on international development resources due to the ongoing multiple crisis makes the tailored and smart deployment of cooperative resources through blue economy more essential than ever.

Strengthening collaboration within the AIS Forum and improve its institutional framework should ensure global objectives set out by numerous agreements and frameworks are operationalized and pursued with urgency and efficiency among archipelagic and island states. The four key areas of cooperation have placed the AIS forum in an effective position to support participating states in finding solutions, recovering from the pandemic, and fulfilling their international commitments, which notably include the Stockholm Declaration on Human Environment, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the Nagoya Protocol, the Convention on Biodiversity, the Paris Agreement, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, the Sendai Framework, and the global 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. In this sense, the meeting of the leaders of the AIS Forum, with the aim of solidifying commitments of cooperation and further discussion on the future framework AIS Forum are more crucial than ever.

As mandated by the 2nd and the 3rd Ministerial Meeting, the high-level meeting of the leaders/head of state/head of government of AIS Forum participating countries is important to further our concrete actions and cooperation. It presents a unique opportunity to showcase the accomplishments of our cooperation and our commitment going forward together at the global stage. The HLM will also elevate the image of the archipelagic and island people as part of the global community as we recover together in a renewed sense of solidarity. Furthermore, the upcoming HLM, is also expected to reaffirm our commitment to the future of the ocean and solidarity in concrete collaboration through strengthening the AIS Forum institutional framework.

This is the right momentum for AIS Forum to start institutionally preparing to be an organization. In the next five years, the Forum will prepare a stronger internal institutional arrangement that will use UNDP as the main benchmark of operation with some adjustments to the nature of its participating countries. In the end, the ultimate goals are to develop the AIS Forum, so it becomes an ideal organization with strong institutional values, norms, and standards. The 4th MM will serve as the steppingstone to identify ways, means, and strategies to strengthen cooperation and moving the institutional framework of AIS Forum to the next level.

Read more about our previous Ministerial Meetings and Senior Official Meetings