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© 2025 Island Innovation. All rights reserved.

    News

    Curated stories and analysis from islands and sustainability leaders worldwide.

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    Showing 9 of 258 news items in Policy & Governance
    Local2030 Islands Network: SDGs in Developing Island States
    Policy & GovernanceJanuary 15, 2026

    Local2030 Islands Network: SDGs in Developing Island States

    Excerpt from borgenproject.org The world’s small island territories and nations face unique development challenges and are collectively identified as Small Island Developing States by the United Nations (U.N.). These islands commonly experience high costs of living, limited financial opportunities, import dependence and climate vulnerability. Together, these factors create conditions for undiversified and vulnerable economies, contributing to high levels of poverty among island populations. With frequent climate hazards, these challenges become further exacerbated, disrupting both livelihoods and ecosystems that are essential for long-term island sustainability and income generation. The U.N. has emphasized the importance of advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in developing island states, as these states are at the forefront of making sustainable transitions.

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    Nation’s first climate impact fee among new Hawaiʻi laws that went in effect in new year
    Policy & GovernanceJanuary 15, 2026

    Nation’s first climate impact fee among new Hawaiʻi laws that went in effect in new year

    Excerpt from mauinow.com The long-discussed Hawaiʻi Green Fee, the nation’s first-of-its-kind climate impact fee, took effect on Jan. 1, and is expected to generate $100 million annually. Act 96, formerly Senate Bill 1396, increases the existing tax on hotel stays and rentals by 0.75% (raising the Transient Accommodations Tax to 11%), and applying this total tax to cruise ship passengers when a vessel is docked at a state harbor.

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    Grenada Officially Launches The Ministry Of The Blue Economy And Marine Affairs
    Policy & GovernanceJanuary 7, 2026

    Grenada Officially Launches The Ministry Of The Blue Economy And Marine Affairs

    Excerpt from weefmgrenada.com The Government of Grenada on Monday December 15 officially launched the Ministry of the Blue Economy and Marine Affairs, on board the Esta Sea marking a major step toward sustainable ocean development and economic transformation. This new Ministry represents a strategic investment in Grenada’s future. By prioritizing the Blue Economy, Grenada signals its readiness to lead in building a sustainable, inclusive, and forward looking ocean economy—one that creates jobs, strengthens food and energy security, enhances climate resilience, and promotes social equity while safeguarding marine resources.

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    Swiss court admits Indonesian islanders climate case against Holcim
    Policy & GovernanceJanuary 7, 2026

    Swiss court admits Indonesian islanders climate case against Holcim

    Excerpt from reuters.com A court in Switzerland said on Monday it would admit a legal complaint against Swiss cement maker Holcim (HOLN.S), opens new tab which alleges the company is doing too little to cut carbon emissions and hence contributing to global warming. Four residents of the low-lying Indonesian island of Pari, which has been repeatedly flooded as warmer temperatures push up sea levels, submitted a legal complaint in January 2023 to the cantonal court in Zug, Switzerland.

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    'United we stand, divided we fall:' Pacific island nations urged to create collective seabed regulations
    Policy & GovernanceJanuary 7, 2026

    'United we stand, divided we fall:' Pacific island nations urged to create collective seabed regulations

    Excerpt from pacificislandtimes.com Recognizing that the march toward the use of seabed resources is nearly unstoppable at this point, a new paper urges Pacific island nations to create a “underwater constitution” to regulate resource extraction, safeguard their sovereignty and ensure that these countries share in the ocean’s riches. The policy paper, titled “United We Stand, Divided We Fall,” argues for a practical approach in the face of a rush for the Pacific seabed—a Pacific Seabed Stewardship Statement — to help countries agree on shared principles and guide future cooperation on sustainable seabed development.

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    The Transition from Small Island Developing States to Large Ocean States: The Promise and Problems in Pursuing the Blue Economy
    Policy & GovernanceJanuary 7, 2026

    The Transition from Small Island Developing States to Large Ocean States: The Promise and Problems in Pursuing the Blue Economy

    Excerpt and Photo Credit: saisreview.sais.jhu.edu The earliest formal designation of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) as a distinct group of developing countries with their own set of specific challenges occurred in 1992 at the UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which is commonly referred to as the Earth Summit. There, the UN recognized the sustainable development challenges facing SIDS and the need to implement programs and measures to support them. Preceding the conference, small island states established the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). Comprising nearly 20% of UN membership, the AOSIS provides SIDS a platform to pursue collective goals. They used this entity to lobby for the first UN conference devoted exclusively to SIDS in 1994 in Barbados, with the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. Since then, the UN has continued to focus attention on these countries as a “special case for sustainable development in view of their unique and particular vulnerabilities,” with its most recent conference on SIDS taking place in May 2024 on St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda.

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    Nauru's New Name: A Break From Its Colonial Past
    Policy & GovernanceMay 21, 2026

    Nauru's New Name: A Break From Its Colonial Past

    Excerpt and Photo credit: dw.com The tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru will hold a referendum over a government decision to change its official name. The Nauruan parliament on Tuesday passed a constitutional amendment to rename the country "Naoero," New Zealand broadcaster RNZ reported, as the government looks to shed what it sees as a relic from the tiny nation's colonial past. The referendum is required to validate the constitutional change. President David Adeang first tabled the proposal in January.

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    Canada’s Arctic security depends on more than defence — here’s how immigration could help
    Policy & GovernanceMay 21, 2026

    Canada’s Arctic security depends on more than defence — here’s how immigration could help

    Excerpt from news.mongabay.com As winter comes to the Canadian Arctic, muskoxen (Ovibos moschatus) abandon the valleys and head to higher ground, where winds sweep away the snow. That’s where we go to find them, Allen Niptanatiak, chairman of the Kugluktuk Hunters and Trappers Organization, tells Mongabay in a video call. The Inuit harvesters focus on culling the younger cows and bulls, leaving the breeding animals alone. It takes a couple hours to skin, butcher and load up the sleds, the older and younger generations working together in -30° Celsius to -35°C (-22° Fahrenheit to -35°F), weather that is “just perfect,” says Niptanatiak, an Inuk hunter and trapper from Nunavut, who is also a retired conservation officer. “Then we eat and have a big meal and just enjoy it and talk and say, ‘Oh, this is a blessing,’” he says. Muskoxen are an integral part of Arctic ecology and, with their thick shaggy coats, are synonymous with the Far North. Nearly driven to extinction by commercial hunting in the early 1900s, surviving in just a few pockets in Canada, they began to recover following a 1917 hunting ban. By the 1990s, the Canadian population was estimated at 108,600. About 70% of the Canadian population was on Victoria and Banks islands, in Canada’s Arctic Archipelago — large islands with a combined area of nearly 290,000 square kilometers (12,000 square miles), about the size of Italy.

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    Greenland and the New Frontier of Eco-Geopolitics
    Policy & GovernanceMay 12, 2026

    Greenland and the New Frontier of Eco-Geopolitics

    Excerpt from fairobserver.com As the Arctic ice diminishes, Greenland evolves from a “peripheral” region to a focal point in international affairs. It is progressively recognized as a contested area of strategic significance. Previously an inaccessible, icy territory, Greenland now holds a central role in the security considerations of Washington, Brussels, Beijing and Moscow.  Greenland is not just entering global politics — it is reshaping it. Greenland’s rising geopolitical significance Beneath its ice lie vital minerals indispensable to tech-driven economic development and defense infrastructures. Concurrently, Arctic thawing offers potentially new maritime routes, military corridors and other strategic advantages. For the US, reducing dependence on China’s dominance in rare-earth processing has become a national security priority. For China, the Arctic represents an extension of its “Polar Silk Road,” a space for future trade and influence. Russia, meanwhile, is expanding its Arctic military capabilities and seeking control over northern sea routes. For NATO member countries on both sides of the Atlantic, the Arctic has been a vital military buffer since the Second World War.

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