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Climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic are complex and have multifaceted effects on countries in an unpredictable and unprecedented manner. While both COVID-19 and the climate crisis share similarities, they also have some notable differences. Being both systemic in nature with knock-on and cascading effects that propagate due to high connectedness of countries, COVID-19, however, presents imminent and directly visible dangers, while the risks from climate change are gradual, cumulative and often distributed dangers. Climate change has more significant medium and long-term impacts which are likely to worsen over time. There is no vaccine for climate change compared to COVID-19. In addition, those most affected by extreme climatic conditions have usually contributed the least to the root causes of the crisis. This is in fact the case of island economies. The chapter thus investigates into the vulnerability and resilience of 38 Small Islands Developing States (SIDs) to both shocks. Adopting a comprehensive conceptual framework and data on various indices from the literature and global databases, we assess the COVID-19 and climate change vulnerabilities of SIDs on multiple fronts. The results first reveal a higher vulnerability across all dimensions for the Pacific islands compared to the other islands in the sample. There is also evidence of a weak correlation between climate change risk and the COVID-19 pandemic confirming our premise that there are marked differences between these two shocks and their impacts on island communities.

Climate change adaptations are today pursed globally to address the threats associated with climate change. The IPCC Third Assessment Report and the Fourth Assessment Report have outlined the most accurate changes to be expected by 2100 with the only uncertainty relating to the timing and magnitude of these changes, not their occurrence (IPCC, 2007). In Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the changes are already manifested through coastal flooding, erosion, salt water intrusion, damaged water sources, and increased storm damages. SIDS are also under threat from their rapidly increasing population that needs settlements, services, and facilities, their limited size that severely confines their options, and their poor resources both in terms of weak financial position and restricted human capacity. This is the reason why SIDS, which will be the first and worst victims, must devote more concerted effort to adapt to these eventualities.

When it comes to small island developing states (SIDS), the literature is burgeoning with articles on resilience and climate change or resilience as an aftermath to some type of natural disaster. As a singular topic, economic resilience or political resilience has not been as widely discussed. Baldacchino (2014), however, took a close look at sovereign small island states and how they have been able to, among other things, secure their independence following long periods of colonization and exhibit good economic indicators that were and are comparative to those of much larger developing countries (Anklesaria Aiyar, 2008; Armstrong & Read, 1998; Easterly & Kraay, 2000). In his essay, Baldacchino discusses economic development of small island states using a heavy dose of commercialization of resources as the backdrop for sustainable economic development.

This chapter will take a look at what The Bahamas has implemented in the wake of major external shocks that have all but crippled other small economies. The strategies implemented have not only been a stabilizing force but have placed the country well on the road to economic recovery. It is to be noted that while implementation of some of these strategies were not easy or received well by certain factions in the country, politics aside, government officials from across the divide came together to prove once and for all that regardless of individual politics, the strength of the country's economic and political pillars was the best show of resilience as the world looked toward the future.

Tourism, a critical economic sector for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), is extremely vulnerable to climate change. It has been becoming increasingly evident that strategic planning is essential for the sector to manage future impacts of climate change. This study examines the climate change considerations in the tourism sector of The Bahamas with a specific focus on adaptation policies by exploring the perspectives of key actors. Facing similar climate vulnerabilities as many other SIDS, The Bahamas was chosen because it is a mature tourism destination that provides an avenue for existing policy innovations. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight policy actors from the government, tourism associations, and nongovernmental organizations in the country. The findings revealed that these stakeholders have a good knowledge of climate change. However, planning for tourism and climate change is fragmented, with most climate policies formulated with the scope of mitigation, such as greenhouse gas reduction strategies. In addition, the policy implementation faces many gaps common to SIDS, such as funding and human capacity. At present, the strategic planning for future tourism targets sustainable eco-tourism markets. Based on our findings, we provide recommendations such as leveraging public officials' knowledge of climate change, steering locally relevant adaptation measures, and directing immediate attention toward projects in the pipeline to ensure timely, long-term, and effective planning. The study adds to the current knowledge of climate change in the tourism policy context for The Bahamas with implications for other SIDS.

The chapter aims to evaluate the efficacy of stakeholder participation in the solid waste management system of Mauritius in view of providing a possible mechanism to attain the goals of a sustainable waste management framework.

The study employs qualitative indicators, namely, User Inclusivity and Producer Inclusivity of the Wasteaware Benchmark Indicators. Secondary data are used to conduct a critical and comprehensive analysis of the sub-indicators falling under each of the two main indicators to determine the overall compliance level with respect to stakeholder engagement of the waste management sector of Mauritius.

The results of the study show a LOW/MEDIUM compliance level for both User Inclusivity and Provider Inclusivity indicators, which indicates that improvement is required in the stakeholder engagement mechanism in Mauritius. The main weaknesses identified comprise of lack of an adequate legal framework with clear definition of waste types with regards to segregation, especially for non-hazardous wastes, low efficiency of sustainable waste management awareness campaigns and lack of inclusion of the informal sector. The main strengths identified consist of a proper bidding mechanism in place and a good level of equity in the provision of waste management services with respect to comingled waste collection. Suggested improvement areas include a revamping of the existing legal framework related to waste management to cater for higher inclusivity of all stakeholders together with including sustainable waste management topics in the formal education curriculum.

The User Inclusivity and Producer Inclusivity indicators were previously applied only to cities to measure the level of stakeholder participation, but this study has demonstrated that these indicators can also be adopted on a nation-wide level to evaluate stakeholder engagement. The use of these indicators together with secondary data presents a less time-consuming method to assess stakeholder participation in the waste sector, which can be particularly useful for Small Island Developing States.

The Pacific Island countries are culturally diverse, politically challenging, extremely vulnerable to climate change and natural disaster impacts, and financially heavily dependent on aid flows. This chapter examines barriers and opportunities for Green growth (GG) to flourish in a country with a practically non-existent real economy and which is currently under the threat of disappearance under water. It draws on a visiting experience and lessons from the literature and tries to investigate the role of innovation and entrepreneurship as poles of re-birth and local creativity. More particularly, I here discuss why a least developed country such as Kiribati might be the perfect location for dynamics of GG to get born and how, Kiribati, a country under threat and fear, can be transformed into a lighthouse of entrepreneurship which can give boost to the implementation of one of the most advanced energy technologies in the world. I also discuss how, ultimately, a “least developed economy” can secure scientific lessons, which are highly significant for the international knowledge society.

While tourism is mostly considered a crucial driver for local development, its impact in terms of sustainability and attractiveness of local destinations must also be taken into account. This is especially true for small islands, where tourism may determine detrimental effects in the long term to the limited space and resources. The “sustainable tourism” approach considers this phenomenon and proposes possible solutions to problems such as the loss of public space, waste management, energy and water over-consumption, traffic congestion, air, water, and visual pollution. This chapter presents and discusses the results of a survey that has been carried out in Ischia, a small Mediterranean island located in the Gulf of Naples in order to explore the propensity toward sustainable mobility of both tourists and residents. In particular, the mobility patterns of the respondents have been deeply investigated both at home (domestic behavior) and on holiday (tourist behavior). The results suggest that the promotion of a higher level of cooperation among different stakeholders and local governments is of paramount importance in order to achieve sustainable tourism on islands. This may also generate important effects in terms of destination attractiveness.