The COVID-19 pandemic has been the single most discussed issue in the world for the past two years. From the first hundred cases in Wuhan to the race to develop vaccines against the many variants, it is safe to say that the media has been effective at documenting the major impacts of COVID-19 on the world. However, rarely has mainstream media covered the impacts that the pandemic has had on smaller countries.
Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are a subset of 58 of the worlds countries and dependent territories that were hit especially hard by the pandemic. Although they are a heterogeneous bunch, SIDS are grouped together because they contend with similar social, environmental, and economic challenges. Amongst these challenges are high levels of poverty and inequality as well as rising sea levels and the increased frequency of natural disasters, the latter two which are driven by climate change. One issue in particular, economic vulnerability, is an especially concerning matter for the majority of SIDS.
The fragility of the SIDS economies was blatantly exposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, these states were deeply impacted by the macroeconomic shock of the pandemic due to their overreliance on a narrow base of commodity exports and on a few service sectors, revealing a crippling lack of economic diversification.
Commodity Exports
When agricultural, energy, and industrial metal commodity prices and exports fell drastically during the beginning of the pandemic, the SIDS economies, most of them already boasting a negative trade balance, were greatly affected.
SIDS were affected in such a large way by this drop in prices and exports because 57 percent of them are considered to be export-commodity-dependent. This number is in stark contrast to the 13 percent of developed countries that earn this same title. Not only do many SIDS have commodity dependent economies, meaning their merchandise exports rely heavily on commodity exports, but numerous SIDS are also single commodity exporters.
For example, in Cabo Verde, Kiribati, Maldives, Micronesia and Tuvalu, seafood alone accounts for 70 percent of all exports of goods. In the Caribbean, ores, metals, precious stones, and non-monetary gold compose more than half of Jamaicas merchandise exports, while petroleum oils and bituminous minerals represent over 75 percent of Saint Lucias exports.
Tourism
The massive slowdown of international tourism from the pandemic did not spare island states. While some SIDS forbade foreign tourists from entering their territories, others welcomed tourists, but grappled with the fact that foreign governments were highly discouraging and, in some cases, forbidding international travel for non-essential purposes. However, one thing was true across the board: SIDS tourism industries, which make up almost 30 percent of their GDP, suffered crippling economic shocks.
Although official analyses and numbers have yet to be released, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimated that a 25 percent collapse in tourism receipts for SIDS as a group could decrease their GDP by US$7.4 billion, or 7.3 percent on average. For SIDS such as Maldives and the Seychelles that rely on tourism for over 50 percent of their GDP, the pandemic could have caused a contraction of up to 16 percent of GDP. These sharp declines in economic output are primarily due to previously bustling resorts becoming ghost towns and the loss of tourist spending in local businesses.
Overall, the reduction in commodity exports, and the sharp decline in tourism, deeply affected the SIDS group. The GDP of these island countries was expected to contract 6.9 percent in 2020. This number is significant in itself, but it jumps out even more when it is compared to the global average of just 6 percent and 1.7 percent for the least developed countries.
Although COVID-19 had disastrous consequences for SIDS as a group, it also revealed some opportunities. Indeed, the pandemic drew special attention to the precarious state of SIDS economies and provided them with an opportunity to initiate or accelerate economic diversification. In particular, many have been taking steps towards a blue economy, which is defined by the World Bank as the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while preserving the health of ocean ecosystems. For example, the blue economy comprises sectors such as fishery and aquaculture, maritime transportation, coastal tourism, and renewable energy.
Economic Diversification
The macroeconomic shock of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the realization that similar shock could happen again, was a wake-up call for SIDS that rely primarily on tourism to finally seriously consider economic diversification, a key element of a blue economy. To foster economic diversification and resilience, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) suggests that SIDS turn towards their oceans to find new economic opportunities. One such way to do this is to fund research and development efforts in the fishing and aquaculture industries. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) also recommends investing in subsea mining, water desalination, renewable energy, and the bioprospecting of marine genetic resources for pharmaceutical or chemical applications.
Sustainable Tourism Industry
Another important step towards a blue economy is the development of the sustainable tourism industry, an industry whose objective is to advance the socio-economic status of a countrys inhabitants and highlight a country's national features while also preserving its natural ecosystems. The need to invest in sustainable tourism was recognized by stakeholders of this industry, who took the pandemic-induced downtime to collaborate and develop ideas for novel and more effective business practices.
The Pacific Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework, for example, provides a road map to help Pacific countries develop their sustainable tourism industries. This framework, published in April 2021 and supported by SIDS in the Pacific, offers concrete suggestions for supporting sustainable tourism. Some of these suggestions are to reduce carbon emissions by transitioning to renewable energy and to improve resource efficiency by implementing better water and waste management processes. Another priority of this framework is to position this regions unique destinations and quality experiences in tourism advertising materials as being environmentally conscious.
Not only do countries need to invest in their respective sustainable tourism industries, but demand for sustainable tourism also needs to be accelerated. One way of doing this would be using multichannel marketing, and focusing on promotion via social media to highlight the positive benefits of sustainable tourism. The United Nations also stresses the importance of establishing and maintaining strong partnerships with organizations that have conservation at the core of their mission. These partnerships are beneficial to the sustainable tourism industry as they popularize responsible travel and make people aware of the importance of this industry. For example, National Geographic Expeditions supports sustainable tourism by organizing trips that are aligned with the principles of this industry.
In short, while the COVID-19 pandemic had disastrous consequences for SIDS, it also provided them with an opportunity to become economically resilient, and thus reduce their vulnerability to future macroeconomic shocks.
Read the original post:
Small Island Developing States: Looking Past the COVID-19 Pandemic - Harvard International Review
- In defence of the state pension triple lock - UK in a Changing Europe - November 20th, 2023 [November 20th, 2023]
- Driving an entrepreneurship culture | Print Edition - The Sunday ... - The Sunday Times Sri Lanka - November 20th, 2023 [November 20th, 2023]
- NTSA embarks on Road safety sensitisation drives as heavy rains ... - Capital FM Kenya - November 20th, 2023 [November 20th, 2023]
- How We Dealt with Environmental Events in the Past can Help Us ... - One Green Planet - November 13th, 2023 [November 13th, 2023]
- Djibouti is sinking deeper into socio-economic distress. Can the ... - Nation - November 13th, 2023 [November 13th, 2023]
- Thailands tectonic political shift - East Asia Forum - November 13th, 2023 [November 13th, 2023]
- Our climate and nature response: the imperative and opportunity - New Zealand Herald - November 13th, 2023 [November 13th, 2023]
- Police in Marsabit launch manhunt killers of security officer - Nation - November 13th, 2023 [November 13th, 2023]
- Odds stacked against Team CR's attempts to emulate champs - IOL - November 13th, 2023 [November 13th, 2023]
- Total War: Warhammer makes the likes of Total War: Pharaoh feel ... - TechRadar - November 13th, 2023 [November 13th, 2023]
- Quo Vadis Iran? The future of the Islamic Republic after the protests ... - Real Instituto Elcano - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- NWest economic decline leads job shedding crisis in SA Leon ... - Politicsweb - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- A pawn in the ANCs betrayal of SAs developmental agenda - DFA - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Alarmist headlines about evictions should be ignored in favour of ... - Property Industry Eye - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- The role of women's activism in the fight for Ukraine's freedom - RTE.ie - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Role of ecological governance in resilience building - Newsday Zimbabwe - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- I'll Explore New Wealth Creation Methods In Kogi Melaye - Leadership News - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- Gift of the Givers conference and Africa Day - Daily Maverick - May 22nd, 2023 [May 22nd, 2023]
- REDcycle's collapse is more proof that plastic recycling is a broken ... - December 30th, 2022 [December 30th, 2022]
- The COVID-19 pandemic and health inequalities - October 30th, 2022 [October 30th, 2022]
- Column: The hope and warning of Iran's protests - Meadville Tribune - October 15th, 2022 [October 15th, 2022]
- Collapse of the Atlantic northwest cod fishery - Wikipedia - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Economists debunk the banking system and win the Nobel Prize - Cointelegraph - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- Elizabeth Shackelford: The hope and warning of Iran's protests - Rochester Post Bulletin - October 13th, 2022 [October 13th, 2022]
- The Taliban's Triumph Has Been Afghanistan's Tragedy - The National Interest Online - September 2nd, 2022 [September 2nd, 2022]
- GDP is (almost) everything, and that's the problem - Resilience - September 2nd, 2022 [September 2nd, 2022]
- Victoria 3 Launches On October 25th, Bringing The Victorian Era To Life In Paradox's Grand Strategy Sim - MMORPG.com - September 2nd, 2022 [September 2nd, 2022]
- Protests, 'biznez' and a failed coup: journalist Monica Attard on covering the empire Gorbachev allowed to collapse - The Conversation - September 2nd, 2022 [September 2nd, 2022]
- The life and death of Italian centrism - Social Europe - September 2nd, 2022 [September 2nd, 2022]
- Giving a dam in the Mekong basin - Policy Forum - September 2nd, 2022 [September 2nd, 2022]
- Pakistan's history of disasters and the lessons we fail to learn - DAWN.com - September 2nd, 2022 [September 2nd, 2022]
- Elections shed light on rise of racism, discrimination in Sweden | Daily Sabah - Daily Sabah - September 2nd, 2022 [September 2nd, 2022]
- Moses parts the Red Devil sea - Iola Register - September 2nd, 2022 [September 2nd, 2022]
- Adapt or reap the whirlwind of the rising seas: Protect Battery Park City from the encroaching Hudson River - New York Daily News - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Why Lebanese citizens are joining the migrant tide out of the Middle East - Arab News - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Iranians Call for Prosecution of Raisi, Instead of Welcoming Him at UN - Iran Focus - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- CISLAC to Governors: Sacrifice your jumbo pays to salvage imminent economic collapse - The Eagle Online - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- Are Humans an Invasive Species? - EARTH.ORG - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- Jose Rodriguez came to America looking for a brighter future. He ended up a casualty in the political battle over immigration between Texas and New... - August 15th, 2022 [August 15th, 2022]
- Growing India-Vietnam economic relations - Times of India - July 27th, 2022 [July 27th, 2022]
- Lebanon Ranked As The Angriest Country In The World - The961 - June 29th, 2022 [June 29th, 2022]
- Let's be honest with our economics - NewsDay - June 29th, 2022 [June 29th, 2022]
- Socio-economic meltdown leaves Lebanese hanging on by a thread | | UN ... - June 24th, 2022 [June 24th, 2022]
- UN and Australia give dignity kits to women and girls in Sri Lanka ... - June 24th, 2022 [June 24th, 2022]
- Parliamentary Elections and the Future of the Armenian Community in Lebanon - Armenian Weekly - June 24th, 2022 [June 24th, 2022]
- A Glimpse of the Chin State and Beyond: One Year after the Military Coup in Myanmar - PRESSENZA International News Agency - June 24th, 2022 [June 24th, 2022]
- Hobbled Economic Performance during Modi's Eight Years: Solution has been the Problem - HW News English - June 18th, 2022 [June 18th, 2022]
- Over 70 Crypto Currencies Have Lost 90% Of Their Value Since Their Peak, Bitcoin Rises - Outlook India - June 18th, 2022 [June 18th, 2022]
- Chinas Xi Jinping Could Knowingly Start a War Without Victory - RealClearDefense - June 18th, 2022 [June 18th, 2022]
- Muse: There's gonna be a big shift. We're dealing with a disruptive transition - NME - June 15th, 2022 [June 15th, 2022]
- Cryptocurrency is a symptom of the death of the American dream - The New Statesman - June 15th, 2022 [June 15th, 2022]
- A conflict of professional ethics and ambition in NAATCO's Off-Broadway debut of 'Queen' at ART/New York - DC Theater Arts - DC Metro Theater Arts - June 15th, 2022 [June 15th, 2022]
- Nigeria-2023: Money politics and theft of democracy - Blueprint Newspapers Limited - June 15th, 2022 [June 15th, 2022]
- 25.12: The Collapse of the Soviet Union: A Timeline of Key Events - June 5th, 2022 [June 5th, 2022]
- Scale, context, and heterogeneity: the complexity of the social space | Scientific Reports - Nature.com - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Last one to leave Ireland, please switch off the lights - The Irish Times - June 3rd, 2022 [June 3rd, 2022]
- Governments on Road to Collapse as Global Supply Chain Crisis ... - May 27th, 2022 [May 27th, 2022]
- Dissolution of Russia - Wikipedia - May 27th, 2022 [May 27th, 2022]
- Lecture at Institute of Human Rights, Guangzhou University: Human rights in the world: the role of multilateralism - OHCHR - May 27th, 2022 [May 27th, 2022]
- 13 books and reports on science, impacts, solutions, and actors - Yale Climate Connections - May 27th, 2022 [May 27th, 2022]
- What Europe still needs to do to save its bees - EUobserver - May 27th, 2022 [May 27th, 2022]
- Waving the Lion Flag - Groundviews - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- Special briefing: Lebanese elections reshape the political scene - Middle East Institute - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- Oil hazards aren't the main worry of Nigeria's coastal residents: toilets are - The Conversation - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- MAREE TODD: Sharp focus on cost-of-living crisis in Caithness - JohnOGroat Journal - May 25th, 2022 [May 25th, 2022]
- Emefiele at CBN: Preserving Today, Protecting the future - THISDAY Newspapers - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- Five things to know to start your Monday - Businessday - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- 2023: Workers and political participation - Blueprint Newspapers Limited - May 3rd, 2022 [May 3rd, 2022]
- How Africa can respond to the seismic changes in the world: lessons from history - The Conversation Indonesia - May 1st, 2022 [May 1st, 2022]
- Workers Day: Onus on staff to upskill themselves - The Citizen - May 1st, 2022 [May 1st, 2022]
- Green capitalism is not the solution to South Africas energy crisis - News24 - May 1st, 2022 [May 1st, 2022]
- Rwanda most effective low-income country - report | The New Times - The New Times - May 1st, 2022 [May 1st, 2022]
- The 'Panic Masters': is postgraduate study the solution to your career crisis? - Epigram - May 1st, 2022 [May 1st, 2022]
- Homophobia and transphobia have more in common than you think - Dazed - May 1st, 2022 [May 1st, 2022]
- Putin has launched the first economic world war, and the EU and the West are his targets - MarketWatch - April 20th, 2022 [April 20th, 2022]
- New Phase in Dalit Politics: Crisis or Regeneration? - Outlook India - April 20th, 2022 [April 20th, 2022]
- Crikey Worm: Following the leaders? - Crikey - April 20th, 2022 [April 20th, 2022]
- Security Implications of ASUU Strikes, by Hassan Gimba - The Source - April 20th, 2022 [April 20th, 2022]
- The socio-economic consequences of COVID-19 in the Middle ... - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]
- The broken record keeps playing the same song - FXStreet - April 13th, 2022 [April 13th, 2022]