AOSIS Statement during the General Debate of the Second Committee at GA81

Madam Chair, I have the honour to deliver this statement on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).

Our group congratulates you and the members of the Bureau on your election and assure you of AOSIS’ support and cooperation as we deal collectively with our programme of work for the 81st Session.

Madam Chair, The theme for this year’s general debate asks us to confront a fundamental question: “in a changing global economy, is finance flowing to where it is needed most?” The global financing gap to achieve the SDGs now exceeds 4 trillion dollars annually. ODA fell by a record 23.1 per cent in 2025. The share of global foreign direct investment flows to SIDS in 2024 remained at less than 1 per cent. Debt-service burdens across SIDS have reached two- decade highs.

Taken together, these numbers reveal a fundamental problem.

We do not face only a shortage of finance. We face a problem of where finance flows, on what terms, and according to whose measure of need.

Too often, countries facing the greatest vulnerabilities encounter the highest costs of capital, the narrowest fiscal space and the greatest barriers to accessing concessional resources.

For SIDS, whose goal under the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda is resilient prosperity, this contradiction is particularly acute.

Our small economies, geographic remoteness, narrow productive bases and exposure to external shocks and climate-related disasters make development more costly and recovery more difficult.

At the same time, SIDS should not be viewed only through the lens of vulnerability.

We invest scarce resources in protecting oceans, ecosystems and biodiversity that provide global benefits. Therefore, financing SIDS is an investment in global public goods, and denying affordable capital only compounds global risk.

Madam Chair, Through the Sevilla Commitment, we have already agreed on a different direction.

The task now is implementation.

For AOSIS, this means urgent action in three areas.

First, vulnerability must matter in determining access to finance.

GNI alone cannot tell us what a hurricane costs, what geographic isolation costs, or what repeated exposure to external shocks costs.

Measures that complement and go beyond GDP, including the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index, must move from recognition to meaningful use across the United Nations system, international financial institutions and development partners.

Second, we must confront the debt crisis as a development crisis.

For too many SIDS, scarce public resources that should finance hospitals, schools, resilient infrastructure and economic transformation are instead absorbed by debt service.

Development finance cannot mean indebting the vulnerable simply to withstand the next shock.

The Sevilla Commitment provides important avenues forward, and these commitments must now be operationalized.

In particular, we call for urgent support to the SIDS Centre of Excellence to fully operationalize the Debt Sustainability Support Service and translate this commitment into practical support.

AOSIS also continues to support an ambitious intergovernmental process on debt and solutions that are timely, predictable and responsive to the circumstances of our vulnerable countries.

Third, declining public finance cannot simply be replaced by expensive private capital.

We recognize the indispensable role of the private sector. But mobilizing private finance must mean directing investment towards sustainable development and not merely towards markets where returns are easiest and risks are lowest.

Therefore, ODA remains indispensable, particularly for countries and sectors where private capital cannot or will not go. We therefore call on development partners to reverse these declines and fulfil their commitments.

We also need greater use of guarantees, blended finance, and other instruments capable of reducing the cost of capital and unlocking investment in SIDS.

Madam Chair, At a time when we aim to close financing gaps and accelerate achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, we should be removing barriers to development, not creating new ones.

In this regard, AOSIS calls on States to refrain from unilateral coercive measures inconsistent with the UN Charter and international law. Such measures, particularly against one of our members, undermine the Charter, restrict trade and investment, and deepen the vulnerabilities that SIDS are working to overcome.

In closing, Madam Chair, the ABAS gives us our roadmap towards resilient prosperity for SIDS.

The Sevilla Commitment gives the international community a framework for financing that journey. And the 2030 Agenda gives us the destination.

With the 2027 SDG Summit approaching, what remains is to ensure that finance reaches where it is needed most, when it is needed most, and on terms that make sustainable development truly possible.

AOSIS stands ready to work with all delegations towards that objective.

I thank you.