Small Islands Big Picture

The maritime regions in which SIDS are located have long been considered ‘zones’ or ‘oceans of peace’. But geopolitical tension is increasingly leading to military forms of conflict that are potentially calling this into question. But what does it mean to be a zone of peace? Have island regions always been peaceful? And what can small states do to resist the military designs of great powers?

In this episode, Emily and Matt speak to a number of experts with their own distinctive take on these questions. We hear from Patrick Kaiku from Papua New Guinea in “Island Voi...

In June 2026, RESI launched the first ever “State of SIDS” report, an extensive analysis of how Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are responding to a rapidly changing global context in which the defence of their special case is more urgent than ever, but also potentially requires new ideas, innovations and arguments to support this action. The report was developed by a cross-regional team of almost 30 SIDS experts. 

In this episode, which is the counterpart to Episode 24 on the SIDS Future Forum, Emily and Matt explore the report and its implications in depth. In “Island Voices”, we hear fr...

African Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are sometimes overlooked in global debates that tend to be dominated by the Pacific and the Caribbean. Yet across Africa’s island states, substantial advances are being made in terms of regional collaboration, good governance, sustainable development, climate resilience and cultural protection. At the same time, the region faces distinctive challenges: vast distances separate African SIDS and their critical mass is limited relative to counterparts elsewhere. 

In this episode, Emily and Matt are joined by Stefano Moncada from the University of Malta to speak to panel of experts – Paul Akiwumi from G...

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have long been recognised by the United Nations as a “special case” for sustainable development. This reflects the fact that small islands across the Caribbean, the Pacific, and the Indian Ocean and Atlantic regions face unique and intensifying challenges, including climate change, debt pressures, geopolitical uncertainty, and limited fiscal space.

But in a rapidly shifting global system, that recognition is under increasing strain. How do small island states ensure their needs are still understood, prioritised and acted on?

In this episode, we explore the key questions at the hear...

Small islands generally did far better during the pandemic than bigger (and often richer) countries with more complex health systems. In this episode, Emily and Matt ask: what have been the longer-term effects of Covid-19 more than five years on? Have lessons have been learned for the next shock? Where can we see both improvements and things to worry about in health provision and outcomes?

We welcome two global public health experts for our “Explainer”. Sophie Harman tells us why we should worry about not only the decline of multilateral health governance, but also what might...

In this episode, Emily, Matt and the other RESI Directors look back on everything that happened in the world of small islands during 2025, discussing hot topics, highlights and lowlights while looking forward to 2026 will bring. The team also discusses how their own policy and research has shaped conversations around different SIDS agendas - from debt and oceans to geopolitics and climate justice.   

NB: Hurricane Melissa cast a very long shadow over the final months of 2025 and will continue to do so for Jamaicans as they rebuild their country. If you would like to support those effor...

From momentum against fossil fuels to fires breaking out on site, COP30 was anything but routine. Held just outside Brazil’s Amazon rainforest and framed as the ‘COP of implementation’, the talks delivered a mix of drama, hard-won progress, and unfinished business. But where did small islands feature in the final decisions, and will those outcomes lead to real change?

In this episode, Matt and Emily are joined by COP30 attendees—including AOSIS’ Climate Change Advisor and Fiji’s Chief Negotiator—to take listeners inside the negotiating rooms. They unpack the pressures of COP’s relentless schedule, reflec...

The seemingly unstoppable rise of “big data” and Artificial Intelligence is reshaping and destabilising the global economy. But where do small islands fit into this? Could digital technologies like AI level the playing field, or do they represent a new form of technocolonialism? Can Small Island Developing States (SIDS) embed them quickly enough to benefit from new economic opportunities, or are they likely to be left further behind?

In this episode, Emily and Matt speak to a number of experts grappling with these kinds of questions. In our "Island Voices" segment Kunal Singh from Fiji talks...

In July 2025, The International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a unanimous advisory opinion affirming that states have legal obligations under international law to prevent environmental harm and uphold human rights while reducing emissions to stay within 1.5°C of warming. For Small Island Developing States (SIDS), this was a remarkable victory. But what are the political and legal implications, and how can big polluters be held to account? In this episode, Emily and Matt interview six people involved in the process to an offer a thorough expert account of what the ICJ opinion really means for SIDS.

Fea...

We are witnessing a boom in new forms of financing that generate both profit for investors and a “social return” for communities. But what is “impact investing”, and why do we need more of it to protect our oceans and support small islands? 

Matt and Emily – with RESI colleague, Gail Hurley – reflect on the UN Oceans Conference in Nice, June 2025. We ask whether socially responsible investment can unlock new money for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and share powerful stories of islands and investors revolutionizing ocean protection through innovative financing. 

In Island Voices, Kar...

Disasters are a constant part of life on islands - but outsiders often just see the stats: storm categories, earthquake scales, eruption sizes. Behind those numbers are real people forced to live through harrowing experiences. In this episode, Matt and Emily ask: how do survivors make sense of the shock - and how do their stories help communities rebuild what was lost? 

In “Island Voices”, Darenthea Sweeney from Montserrat and Gregory Adams from the British Virgin Islands describe the lasting social effects of disasters. As a disaster management expert, Emily breaks it down for us in the...

Small states are among the most peaceful societies, rarely experiencing war and conflict. Yet, on a per capita basis, some - especially, but not exclusively, in the Caribbean—suffer from daunting levels of homicidal violence. In this episode, ODI Global's Emily and Matt ask whether gang violence is getting worse, and explore how SIDS are investing in young people as one part of the solution. Featuring:Mtima Solwazi - Trinidad’s Roots Foundation on guiding disenfranchised youths away from illicit activities.Adam Baird, a leading gang expert who has pioneered a “masculinities” approach to anti-violence interventions throughout Latin America and the Caribbe...

President Trump’s return to the White House in 2025 signals an upheaval in global politics. ODI hosts, Emily and Matt, ask what this means for small island developing states, and how they might navigate these increasingly choppy waters. 

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In recent years, many Caribbean countries have experienced a staggering influx of sargassum, a type of nuisance seaweed emanating from the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean. Beyond just its potent smell, sargassum seaweed is wreaking havoc on coastal ecosystems, fisheries and tourism infrastructure. In this episode, Emily and Matt ask where it has come from, why it has become such a problem and what this means for climate change. They also discuss exciting new technologies from small island nations which, in a bid for a more sustainable future, could see sargassum recycled and redeployed across the globe. 

Featu...

Intellectuals and activists have long demanded reparations for the horrors of slavery and other colonial abuses. For Small Island Developing States, these demands appear particularly urgent as intensifying climate-related shocks compound existing injustices. In this episode, Emily and Matt ask whether questions of repair and recompense can no longer be avoided by powerful actors. If so, what could such a dialogue look like, how might it shape political and policy agendas, and can it be harnessed to support greater climate justice?

We hear from Gabrielle Hemmings, a Jamaican reparations activist in “Island Voices”. We then move o...

In this episode, Emily and Matt try to find out why it has blazed such a successful trail, what reforms might ultimately result from it, and where SIDS fit into the process.

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Since the Paris Agreement of 2015, legal action around climate change has grown. This takes many forms, from community groups and public bodies suing oil companies, to international litigation by states within multilateral courts. The most prominent initiative is the pursuit of an “Advisory Opinion” at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the “Obligations of States in respect of climate change” pursued tenaciously by a very small state, Vanuatu. In this episode, Emily and Matt make sense of this phenomenon by asking who is leading these initiatives, why they are gathering steam, and which hold out the greatest promise of succe...

In May 2024, the Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4) took place in Antigua, where leaders agreed the next ten-year roadmap for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the “Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS: A Renewed Agenda for Resilient Prosperity (ABAS)”.

In this episode, Emily and Matt review the conference, bringing to life the event’s atmosphere, discussing key highlights, and – crucially – asking “What now needs to happen for the ABAS to be successful over the next decade?”.

In “Island Voices”, Naya Sena provides a civil society perspective on SIDS4. In the “Explainer”, Mar...

In recent years, the notion of the “Blue Economy” has gained traction in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) policy debates. Focusing on the often-enormous marine spaces encompassed in SIDS’ exclusive economic zones (EEZs) – rather than their diminutive terrestrial landmasses – implies SIDS are really “large ocean states” rather than “small island states”. For proponents, the “Blue Economy” represents an entirely new way of thinking that offers a host of novel economic opportunities. For critics, it is little more than a buzzword that potentially “bluewashes” familiar forms of resource enclosure and extraction.

In this episode of "Small Islands Big Picture", Emily...

Citizenship is traditionally granted by right – on the basis of birthplace or parentage – or acquired through naturalisation – on the basis of sustained residency and allegiance to the state. Yet, many small countries are increasingly “selling sovereignty” through Citizenship by Investment (CBI) or Residence by Investment (RBI) schemes. These “golden passports” and “golden visas” generate sizeable revenues for many small island developing states (SIDS), but they have also come under scrutiny from powerful states and international organisations, especially the European Union.

In this episode of Small Islands Big Picture, Emily and Matt explore the proliferation of these schemes, asking, ‘...

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are, by definition, highly dependent on shipping and other forms of connectivity. As geographically small land masses, SIDS have a high propensity to import things, and as islands, all imports, exports and travel must be done by sea (or air). However, SIDS are at the mercy of the global shipping industry, over which they have little control – an industry prone to shocks, spikes in prices and rapid technological change.

In this episode of "Small Islands, Big Picture", Emily and Matt discuss: why SIDS are so dependent on shipping; how these sma...

Each decade since the mid-1990s, the United Nations has convened a high-level international summit – bringing together small-island governments, large-state donor partners, international organisations and representatives from civil society – to agree the next ten-year agenda for Small Island Developing States’ (SIDS) development diplomacy. The fourth of these conferences (SIDS4) will take place in Antigua-Barbuda in May 2024, under the theme ‘Charting the Course Toward Resilient Prosperity’.

SIDS4 is the most important of these decennial conferences so far, taking place at a critical juncture in the global context and at an especially challenging time for small island states. Consequent...

This episode of "Small Islands, Big Picture" explores debt in SIDS – a critical challenge with no easy solutions. Emily and Matt explain why many island states have built up such large debt burdens in the first place, how this impacts SIDS in different ways, and why it is so difficult to reduce. They discuss what can be done to augment SIDS’ ‘fiscal space’, whose responsibility it is to help them achieve this, and how new financial mechanisms might help.

In “Island Voices”, Rachid Bouhia talks about how better international support is critical for alleviating debt. In the “Explain...

This episode of "Small Islands Big Picture" Emily and Matt discuss the problem of sea-level rise, the challenges it poses to sustainable development – especially for low-lying island nations – and what might be done about it. 

Ian Fry explains why sea-level rise is such a multifaceted problem. In "Island Voices", Dr Michelle Scobie talks about the critical role of environmental governance. In “The Big Picture”, Dr Tammy Tabe and Professor Jon Barnett talk us through why conventional responses to sea-level rise – such as resettling people – often ignore the desires and adaptation plans of island communities. In "No Stupid Questio...

In this episode, Emily and Matt discuss a special group of small islands: non-independent territories or "sub-national island jurisdictions" (SNIJs). They explain the great diversity that exists amongst these non-sovereign islands in terms of levels of development and depth of integration with metropolitan powers like Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States. Professor Jack Corbett, RESI Co-Director and Head of the School of Social Sciences at Monash University in Australia, talks about the trade-offs and tensions that typify life as a SNIJ.

In "Island Voices", we hear from Dr Genève Phillip, Interim Provost and Vice-President of...

In this episode of "Small Islands, Big Picture", Emily and Matthew look at the United Nation's new Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI), how it relates to age-old debates about small-state vulnerability, and why it could lead to a long-overdue shift in the allocation of international aid. In "Island Voices", Theresa Meki speaks about the meaning of vulnerability and George Carter highlights different aspects of SIDS' vulnerability that need to be considered. In "The Big Picture", Fatumanava-o-Upolu III Dr Pa'olelei Luteru reports on how work on the MVI is proceeding. In "No Stupid Questions", Emily and Matt answer "Does thinking of...

“Small Islands, Big Picture” is a new podcast from The Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative (RESI) and ODI which will shine a spotlight on the unique challenges and remarkable resilience of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) around the world. Hosts and RESI directors Dr Emily Wilkinson and Dr Matthew Bishop will be joined by expert guests from the Caribbean, Pacific and beyond to discuss the political, economic, social and environmental issues facing SIDS today.

In this first episode, Emily and Matt explain the ways in which SIDS are some of the most distinctive societies on earth – and why a pod...