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Showing 9 of 247 news items in Policy & Governance

Policy & GovernanceNovember 1, 2025

Don’t let EU Islands sink under the ‘Coastal’ label

Excerpt from cpmr.org The CPMR and its Islands Commission have consistently welcomed the European Commission’s commitment to a dedicated EU Strategy for Islands, as initially presented in the 2025 Cohesion mid-term review communication. This document acknowledged that island and outermost regions face unique challenges – from energy dependency and limited accessibility to labour shortages and climate vulnerability – requiring targeted policy responses. However, the 2026 European Commission Work Programme, as presented today in front of the European parliament, raises serious concerns regarding the much-anticipated EU Strategy for Islands, as it suggests that it would be merged into a broader EU Islands & Coastal Communities Strategy. The CPMR warns that such an approach would dilute the distinctive features of insularity within a wider territorial category, risking the loss of focus on islands’ structural challenges.

Policy & GovernanceOctober 27, 2025

Islanders take council to court over new school location

Excerpt from bbc.com Islanders in Mull are taking their council to court over the decision of where to build a new school. Argyll and Bute Council decided earlier this year to build the new £43m school campus close to the current high school in Tobermory. Many parents wanted a more central location so that pupils in the south of the island would no longer have to travel by ferry to Oban for schooling and stay in hostels during the week. The case will be heard at the Court of Session in Edinburgh later and a decision is expected further down the line.

Policy & GovernanceOctober 19, 2025

‘Humanitarian’ visa must be created for Pacific Islanders displaced by climate crisis, experts say

Excerpt from theguardian.com ‘Humanitarian’ visa must be created for Pacific Islanders displaced by climate crisis, experts say Calls for reform to allow people across the Pacific threatened by climate crisis to more easily migrate, particularly to New Zealand Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson Thu 9 Oct 2025 02.02 BST Share Climate and migration experts are calling for urgent action to create legal pathways for people displaced by the climate crisis, as a new report highlights the scale of the problem across the Pacific. Research by Amnesty International released on Thursday found current immigration systems are inadequate for Pacific Islanders seeking safety and stability, as rising seas threaten to make their homelands uninhabitable. Amnesty has called on New Zealand – home to the world’s largest Pacific diaspora – to urgently reform its policies to provide “rights-based approach to climate-related displacement”. “This would include offering a dedicated humanitarian visa,” the report said. It also argued providing safe options for those most severely affected by climate change through humanitarian visas is “part of states’ obligations to ensure protection for people whose human rights are being threatened”. The report highlights how Tuvalu and Kiribati, where most land lies just 2 to 3 metres above sea level, face existential threats from rising seas, coastal erosion, and extreme weather. These impacts already undermine access to clean water, food, and safe housing. According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), at least 50,000 Pacific Islanders each year face the risk of displacement from climate impacts such as sea level rise and extreme weather. More than half of the Pacific Islands’ population live within 500 metres of the coast, the WMO said, where sea levels are rising faster than the global average and driving pressures for climate-induced migration.

Policy & GovernanceOctober 19, 2025

COP climate talks are 'heartbreak' for Pacific Islands. Here is why they want to host them

Photo credit: Sergei Grits / AP via ABC.net.au Excerpt from abc.net.au Joseph Sikulu's long-haul journey home to the Pacific has felt fruitless after the recent world climate talks. It has become a "heartbreaking" exercise seeing the annual United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) summit achieve so little of the action needed for Pacific Islands to survive climate change, the Tongan-Australian climate activist said. But he still makes the multi-day trip to the negotiations each year, regardless of their slow progress on curbing carbon emissions.

Policy & GovernanceOctober 17, 2025

Bonaire residents take Netherlands to court over climate

Photo credit: dbvirago / Getty Images via Euractiv.com Excerpt from euractiv.com Residents on a tiny island off the coast of Venezuela and NGO Greenpeace on Tuesday urged the Netherlands to take action on the climate crisis, at the opening of a trial in The Hague. Bonaire – one of the Dutch territories worst-hit by the climate crisis, according to Greenpeace – demands through the courts that the Dutch government develops concrete plans to protect the island and reduce CO2 emissions to zero by 2040.The trial at The Hague is a first for Europe and follows an advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July, which provides a legal interpretation of international climate law. “Climate change is not a distant threat for us … Where we used to work, play, walk, or fish during the day, the heat is now often unbearable,” Bonaire resident and farmer Onnie Emerenciana told the court. A 2022 study by Amsterdam’s Vrije Universiteit showed that as much as a fifth of Bonaire could be swallowed up by the sea by the end of the century. Sporting a scarf in the Bonaire flag colours, Emerenciana warned that “parents say their children can no longer walk to school as they used to … Outdoor games have been replaced by indoor activities behind closed doors”.

Policy & GovernanceOctober 13, 2025

The Canary Islands reject a national climate pact that ignores the archipelago's unique characteristics

Excerpt from gobiernodecanarias.org The Canary Islands Commission for Climate Action and Energy, meeting for the second time, calls for an agreement based on technical and consensus, not a mere political gesture, that includes aspects not included in the current Pact, such as the impact on the oceans, rising sea levels, or haze. The Committee of Experts, a member of this Commission, agrees and insists that the agreement must strengthen existing laws, citing as an example the Canary Islands Climate Change Law, one of the most advanced in the country. This Commission, whose objective is the coordination between the different Ministries of the Government for the effective application of the Law on Climate Change and Energy Transition of the Canary Islands, also agreed to the creation of a technical working group made up of the different areas of the Executive

Policy & GovernanceSeptember 30, 2025

Why a tiny island's fate could decide Seychelles' next president

Excerpt from bbc.com A tiny, almost barren island in the Indian Ocean has become a battleground in this weekend's elections in Seychelles, prompting global environmental concern. Assumption Island, in the western Indian Ocean, possesses little at first glance that would set even the most curious and intrepid traveller's pulse racing. Stripped almost bare and blisteringly hot, with few man-made structures, it covers an area similar to London's Heathrow Airport and is, arguably, only slightly more scenic. Yet this tropical island anomaly - both geographically remote, and far from the popular ideal of lush paradise - has become a hotspot for geopolitical powers and eco-warriors, plus a political lightning rod in Seychelles, the country that owns it. Situated 1,140km (700 miles) from Seychelles' most populous main island, tourist-friendly Mahé, Assumption Island is a sausage-shaped, coralline finger of low-level scrub, fringed by casuarina trees. It was ravaged for its nitrogen-rich guano (seabird droppings) and agricultural use ended decades ago. But now, Assumption Island's strategic position and ecological value is priceless.

Policy & GovernanceSeptember 30, 2025

PM Mottley to UN: Stop treating small islands like children

Excerpt from guardian.co.tt Akash Samaroo Reporting from UNGA in New York Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has called on the United Nations to desist from treating some countries like “children” and to reform its Security Council to include permanent seats for small island developing states (SIDS) and African nations. Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly yesterday, Mottley said the UN Security Council must reflect the “multipolar” world that exists now and recognise that there have been substantial geopolitical shifts since 1962, the last time the council was reformed. Mottley boldly told the UN that SIDS and African countries cannot be used for convenience. “We all have perspectives that must be heard. You cannot ask us really, to show up for family photos and votes when you need them and then exclude us from the family’s decision-making as if you are the grown-ups and we are the children. We are not minors,” she said. Mottley added, “We are independent sovereign states with full capacity and we insist on being treated as such.”

Policy & GovernanceSeptember 30, 2025

China could shore up Scarborough Shoal control with artificial island: analyst

Excerpt from scmp.com China could build an artificial island at the fiercely contested Scarborough Shoal to shore up control of the surrounding waters if its newly established nature reserve fails to stem challenges by the Philippines, a prominent Chinese scholar on the dispute has said. But a final decision would boil down to control, cost and confrontation, according to Wu Shicun of the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, a government-sponsored think tank. A major consideration would be “whether it serves to strengthen China’s assertion of sovereignty and effective administrative control”, Shanghai-based news site Guancha quoted Wu as saying in an interview published on Sunday.