This document discusses the importance of small island developing states (SIDS) and the threats they face from climate change. It provides background on SIDS, noting they are home to over 63 million people and play an important role in protecting oceans. SIDS are especially vulnerable to climate change due to their small size and exposure to natural hazards. Rising sea levels threaten coastal communities and have already submerged some islands. Several islands in India are discussed that face threats from sea level rise, erosion, storms and tsunamis, including the Sundarbans islands, Lakshadweep Islands, and Nicobar Islands. The document suggests ways businesses and individuals can help SIDS address climate change impacts through corporate social responsibility programs, coastal community support, and green

3. Host Country: Barbados, a Small Island Developing State located
in the Caribbean
WHY SIDS?

4. Every Action
Counts
Whether it is to
organize clean-up
campaigns, walk-to-
work days,plastic
purges, art exhibits,
tree-planting drives,
concerts, dance
recitals, switching off
the lights, recycling
drives, social media
campaigns and
different contests —
every action counts.
When
multiplied by a
global chorus, our
individual voices and
actions become
exponential in their
impact;

5. The world’s small island nations, home
to more than 63 million people, are
renowned as prized destinations.
While small in total, the land size of
small island nations does not reflect their
importance as stewards of nature’s
wealth on land and sea.
They play an important role in
Protecting the oceans and many are
biodiversity hotspots, containing some of
the richest reservoirs of plants and
animals on the planet.
IMPORTANCE OF SIDS

6. SIDS are especially vulnerable to climate change due to their small size,
narrow resource base, high susceptibility to natural hazards, low economic
resilience, and limited human and technological capacity for mitigating and
adapting to the effects of climate change.
Climate change is foremost among these challenges as global warming is
causing ocean levels to rise. SIDS contribute little to the problem of climate
change: the combined annual carbon dioxide output of SIDS accounts for less
than one per cent of global emissions.
Coastal communities in every country are then threatened with floods and
storm surges to which these small islands are most exposed.
3 CHALLENGES OF SIDS

7. Fisheries play a significant role in the
economy, livelihoods and food security of
SIDS, who hold jurisdiction over coastal
waters and open seas that are many
times larger than their land mass.
Climate change presents one of the
most significant challenges to the tourism
sector, disrupting economies and
livelihoods. For example, a 50-centimeter
rise in sea level will result in Grenada
losing 60% of its beaches, while a one
metre rise would inundate the Maldives.
Energy prices in the vast majority of
SIDS are among the highest globally. In
some cases electricity cost is 500 per cent
more than in the US, primarily as a result
of the dependence on imported petroleum
fuels.
IMAPACT ON SIDS ECONOMY

9. CLIMATE
CHANGE- THE
GAME CHANGER
"Global warming
refers to surface
temperature
increases, while
climate change
includes global
warming and
everything else
that increasing
greenhouse gas
amounts will
affect”.

12. Q.1
Q.2
Q.3
(5 Qs.)

13. Q.4
Q.5

14.  Frequency of hot days and multiple-day heat waves have increased in past century; Increase
in deaths due to heat stress in recent years .
 The entire Himalayan Hindu Kush ice mass has decreased in the last two decades and the
ratio of melt accelerates. Hence, water supply in areas fed by HKH glacier melt, on which
hundreds of millions of people in China and India depend, will be negatively affected
 Serious and recurrent floods in Northeast states of India during 2002, 2003 and 2004; A
record 944 mm of rainfall in Mumbai on 26-27 July 2005 led to loss of over 1000 lives with
loss of more than US$250 millions; Floods in Surat, Barmer and in Srinagar during summer
monsoon season of 2006
 Sea-level rise leads to intrusion of saline water into the fresh groundwater in coastal
aquifers and thus adversely affects groundwater resources. For two small and flat coral
islands at the coast of India, the thickness of freshwater lens was computed to decrease
from 25 m to 10 m and from 36 m to 28 m, respectively, for a sea level rise of only 0.1 m
 Ganges-Brahmaputra delta (also Bangladesh): More than 1 million people will be directly
affected by 2050 from risk through coastal erosion and land loss, primarily as a result of the
decreased sediment delivery by the rivers, but also through the accentuated rates of sea-
level rise
 Warmer climate, precipitation decline and droughts in most delta regions of India have
resulted in drying up of wetlands and severe degradation of ecosystems
 The gross per capita water availability in India will decline from ~1820 m3/yr in 2001 to as
low as ~1140m3/yr in 2050

16. VANISHING ISLANDS

28. Let’s find
what’s
happening
in India?

29. INDIA’S THREATENED ISLANDS

30. India is among the 'extreme risk' countries where economic impacts of climate
change will be most felt by 2025. Mumbai faces biggest threat from climate
change of all cities in world as it was rated poorly on the capacity of
nations to combat the effects of climate change, exposure to extreme weather
events and sensitivity of populations to this exposure in areas such as health
MUMBAI

31. Thirty-six tiny islands make up Lakshadweep’s land area of 32 km2. A few of
these islands are little more than sandbanks, and only ten are inhabited.
Coral reefs facing threat from pollution, dredging and blast fishing: A swelling
population, land use change, unscientific waste disposal, mining of corals,
coastal erosion, and unregulated construction are exerting pressure on the
Lakshadweep islands, one of the most sensitive and fragile coastal
environments in the country.
Lakshadweep Islands

32. •Rising sea levels
are playing havoc
across the
Sundarbans —
two islands have
already been
submerged.
•More islands are
facing the same
fate.
•The “vanishing
islands” have
rendered around
10,000 people
homeless already
and threaten to
displace about
70,000 more in
the next 14
years.

33. New Moore Island (South Talpatti) was a small uninhibited island in
Sunderbands off the coast of Ganga-Brahmaputra Delta region. It emerged in
the aftermath of Bhola cyclone in 1970. This island covered an area of 2500
sq. meters. Both India and Bangladesh argued over the claim over this small
sandbar in the Bay of Bengal. In 2010, it was discovered that the island had
completely submerged possibly due to global warming.

34. Dhanushkodi was a small island at the southern tip of Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu.
Dhanushkodi has the only land border between India and Sri Lanka. The island was
completely washed out in the cyclone of 17 December, 1964. Before the cyclone,
Dhanushkodi was a popular tourist spot and a pilgrimage town. During the cyclone a
train carrying 115 passengers was washed away killing everyone onboard. Following the
aftermath of the disaster, government declared Dhanushkodi a ghost town and unfit for

35. Great Nicobar Island located in the Bay of Bengal is the southernmost Island of the
Andaman & Nicobar group of islands. The island covers an area of 1045 sq. km and is
sparsely populated. It is mostly covered by rainforest and is known for its diverse wildlife.
The island was severely affected by the 2004 Tsunami resulting in numerous deaths and
communications were cut off from the rest of the world for a whole day. The tsunami
subsided the light house by 4.25 m.
Great Nicobar Island

36. Majuli Island located in Brahmaputra river in Assam is India’s largest river
island. The island covered a total area of 1250 sq. km., but has been reduced
to an area of less than 450 sq. km in recent years, largely due to floods and
erosion. The island houses many east Indian Tribes with villages numbering
144 and a population of 1,50,000. The island is believed to be a cultural capital
of Assam since 16th
century.

37. North Sentinel Island located in the Bay of Bengal and part of Andaman Islands. Most of
the island is heavily forested, surrounded by coral reefs and it lacks a natural harbor.
The island is popular due to the Sentinelse people, who inhabit the island. They reject
any contact with any outsider to the island and are among the last people to remain
virtually untouched by modern civilization.
HOW ARE
SIDS
WORKING
TOWARDS A
SUSTAINABLE
FUTURE?

40. NOW LET’S
EXPLORE HOW
BUSINESS HOUSES
COULD HELP?

41. New Company Act 2013 enlists
broad guidelines to address top 7
world problems; Poverty, AIDs,
Women Empowerment, Education,
Livelihood and Environment.
Corporate Social Responsibility
could be integrated with UN’s
theme of International Year of SIDS
to have wider acceptability.
Support Coastal Communities to
meet up the climate change
challenges and providing tools to
mitigate climate change.
Adopt Marine National Parks to
bring in green practices.
Driving company’s sustainability
mission through green economy
model.
ROLE OF BUSINESS HOUSES

42. In Corporation 2020, Pavan Sukhdev
lays out a sweeping new vision for
tomorrow’s corporation: one that will
increase human well being and social
equity, decrease environmental risks
and ecological losses, and still generate
profit.
Sukhdev illustrates his vision with
examples ranging from Infosys’s
creation of human capital to Citibank’s
having to change its project finance
policy due to rainforest destruction.
From its insightful look into the history
of the corporation to the thoughtful
discussion of the steps needed to craft a
better corporate model.
Corporation 2020 offers a hopeful
vision for the role of business in shaping
a more equitable, sustainable future.
Let’s now ask how
individuals like you and
me could make a
difference? Take tips
from WED
Ambassadors

46. HOW TO
BECOME A
GREEN
MUMBAIKAR?

47. CONTACT DETAILS
Dr. V.Shubhalaxmi
Deputy Director, BNHS
vshubhalaxmi@gmail.com
http://in.linkedin.com/pub/shubhalaxmi-vaylure/13/951/52/
Sources (www.unep.org, www.panda.org, www.boydom.com )
POINT TO PONDER
Would you like to have sea at
your doorstep?
If not do something TODAY
#WED2014