Island states must adopt a "blue-green economy" that combines clean technology and efficient use of resources if they are to successfully adapt to climate change, according to the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
Small island developing states (SIDS) already face disproportionate threats from extreme weather, as around 30 per cent of their population live in areas less than five metres above sea level, according to UNEP's newGlobal Environment Outlook report released this week. And if global temperatures increase 4C by the end of the century in line with the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warnings, then sea levels could be one metre higher by the end of the century, disrupting food and energy production, pushing up economic costs, and even threatening the very existence of some low-lying island states such as Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Islands and Tuvalu.
Source: Business Green