St Helena's First Minister highlights the island's climate priorities on the BBC ahead of COP30

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In a recent appearance on BBC News, Rebecca Kenwick, Premier of St. Helena, delivered a strong message on behalf of small islands in the face of climate change challenges, just weeks before the COP30 in Belém.
His on-air appearance served as a reminder of the climate emergency facing island territories and the crucial role of Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) on the international stage.

Alongside Vishal Prasad, a young climate activist from Fiji, the Prime Minister emphasized that, despite some global progress, the pace of emissions reductions remains woefully inadequate for the communities most at risk.
"We cannot lose hope", she asserted, recalling that for small islands, adapting to climate change is a matter of survival: "our ability to cope with impacts depends on it".

Islands, first exposed to climate impacts

During the interview, Rebecca Kenwick highlighted the particular vulnerability of St. Helena, a territory recognized for its exceptional biodiversity and sensitive ecosystems.
The effects of climate change - rising temperatures, extreme weather events, pressure on natural resources - directly threaten the territory's resilience.

She reiterated the need for small islands to speak up together:

"By uniting as island states, we make our voice heard. We are on the front line of climate impacts, and we are defending our survival."

Limited resources and heavy dependence on climate finance

The Prime Minister also highlighted one of the main constraints of island territories: their limited financial capacity.
As a British Overseas Territory, St. Helena is strongly dependent on climate funding from the UK and other international partners to implement adaptation actions.

With a limited national budget, the territory cannot finance the infrastructure needed for resilience on its own.
This is why partnerships - particularly those facilitated by the Green Overseas (GO) program - are essential.

"Partnerships like Program GO show what we can achieve with limited resources and how we can build resilience."

A unified voice ahead of COP30

Speakers stressed the importance of COP30, presented as a COP of implementation, during which commitments must be transformed into concrete action.
Rebecca Kenwick reiterated the importance of ongoing dialogue with the UK government, notably in the context of the Joint Ministerial Committee scheduled to take place in London in the coming weeks.

The challenge: to ensure that the priorities and vulnerabilities of island territories are effectively taken into account in climate negotiations.