30 September 2015: A treaty establishing the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Sustainable Energy and Climate Resilience Initiative – SIDS DOCK – entered into force on 30 September 2015, with a ceremony at UN Headquarters featuring the official handover of instruments of ratification by the first 11 contracting Parties: Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, the Cook Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Seychelles and Tuvalu. By the treaty, SIDS DOCK is established as an intergovernmental organization – the first global intergovernmental organization of island nations, according to a press release.

SIDS DOCK was first established in 2009 by SIDS heads of state and government, at the initiative of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). It aims to help develop a sustainable energy sector in small islands, providing the foundation for low-carbon economic growth and adaptation to climate change, with the aim of helping small islands achieve by 2033 50% electric power from renewable sources, a 25% decrease in conventional transportation fuel use, and a 25% increase in energy efficiency (using a 2005 baseline).

The participating Parties also adopted a ‘Declaration of the Heads of State and Government, and High Representatives of Small Island Developing States on the work programme of the SIDS DOCK Steering Committee in preparation of the convening of the first Assembly of the SIDS DOCK.’ According to SIDS DOCK, the Declaration positions the initiative to offer member countries a range of services beginning in 2016, including facilitation of technology transfer, assisting the formation of public-private partnerships (PPPs) and facilitating access to global carbon markets.

The ceremony also recognized the work of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) and the Secretariat of the Pacific Environment Programme (SPREP) in helping build SIDS DOCK, early donors Austria, Denmark, Japan and Sweden for their support, and the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for serving as the SIDS DOCK Institutional Partner.

For spearheading the SIDS DOCK Blue Guardian Initiative – which was launched on 28 September 2015, with the aim of increasing SIDS’ resilience to climate change, and promoting marine and fisheries conservation and clean renewable energy – the ceremony recognized the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI), the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the World Bank, and the UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) GRID-Arendal collaborating center and private partners. [SIDS DOCK Press Release] [SIDS DOCK Website] [IISD RS Story on Blue Guardian Initiative] [Webcast of Treaty Ceremony]