Strengthening island resilience: Financing the future of Ocean Countries and Territories

Although they are autonomous island entities politically associated with European countries, Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) remain exposed to the same vulnerabilities as Small Island Developing States (SIDS). While international recognition and external support are essential, their climate resilience depends above all on building sustainable, locally-rooted financial ecosystems.

Supporting Overseas Countries and Territories

Ahab Downer, Director of the Green Overseas (GO) Program, presented this EU-funded initiative that helps 25 European and UK OCTs strengthen their sustainable and resilient development. Implemented by Expertise France, the program helps bridge the climate finance gap by improving the enabling environment for investment in energy transition and resilience projects.

Many OCTs face structural obstacles in accessing multilateral funds, as they are attached to high-income "mother countries" while having no real fiscal autonomy.
"These territories are on the front line of climate change, but often fall through the cracks of the international financial system," explained Downer.

The GO Program thus aims to reduce this gap through technical assistance, capacity building and project preparation, to help islands design "bankable" projects capable of attracting long-term capital. This also involves highlighting them at major international events, organized both by GO (such as the GO Climate Finance Forum) and by global players (COP, UN Ocean Conferences, etc.

).

Financial innovation and regulatory frameworks

Tanya August-Phillips, member of the Isle of Man Legislative Council, explained how the island turns political ambition into financial opportunity. As the first UNESCO Biosphere Reserve on the scale of an entire nation, the island is developing a model linking biodiversity protection and financial innovation. In particular, she spoke of:

• the Climate Change Act, which legally commits the island to carbon neutrality by 2050;

• the Sustainable Finance Roadmap, which directs capital flows towards green investments.

Benjamin Bartle, Director of Catalytic Finance at RMI, meanwhile, stressed the need to fund the project preparation phase, in order to turn ideas into projects attractive to investors. He identified three key priorities to be followed at COP30:

1. Financial architecture - guaranteeing concessional and desensitized financing for small economies.

2. New mechanisms - such as endowment fund models for ecosystem services.

3. Project aggregation - pool several small island projects to attract institutional investors.

David Postlethwaite, ESG Director at KPMG in the Crown Dependencies, brought a regulatory perspective. Having worked with 11 island jurisdictions, KPMG observes a diversity of approaches but also common challenges, particularly in the face of global shocks - hence the value of harmonized standards.

Main challenges and solutions

1. The financing gap

Financing for climate resilience and energy transition remains largely insufficient for the OCTs. Their special status often excludes them from the financial mechanisms intended for SIDS, while the parent countries do not always have suitable schemes.

The GO Program supports solutions such as:

• Helping Bermuda revise its building code to strengthen hurricane resilience;

• reforming the energy framework in St. Helena to achieve 80% renewable electricity by 2027/28 ;

• assessing the potential for blue/green finance in the Falkland Islands, particularly via carbon credits from peatland restoration.

2. Coherent political and legal frameworks

The Isle of Man example has shown how clear legislation boosts investor confidence and encourages the issuance of green bonds or conservation credits.

3. Catalytic finance and project pipelines

The problem is not a lack of funds, but a lack of bankable projects. Adaptation or renewable energy projects, often small-scale, lack financing for their preliminary phase.

Standardized regional pipelines could improve the transition from concept to financing.

4. Cooperation and knowledge sharing

Networks like GO or FC4S facilitate exchanges of experience between islands. The GO Program:

• help Anguilla develop sustainable groundwater management;

• supports Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon in its strategy for adapting to coastal erosion;

• Supports the Cayman Islands in the creation of a national climate resilience dashboard.

The Isle of Man, meanwhile, is exploring a role as a global hub for nature markets and biosphere-related finance.

From dependence to financial independence

Islands are no longer just recipients of climate finance: they are now devising new financial models. From revolving adaptation funds to blended finance platforms, OCTs are experimenting with solutions that mobilize sustainable capital while keeping economic value in their territories.

The GO Expert Group on Sustainable Finance is currently developing new tools to further facilitate OCT access to international financing.

"Everywhere in the partner territories, the GO Program is seeing young people bring new ideas to life: sustainable agriculture and hydroponics in St. Martin, community resilience projects in the British Virgin Islands, awareness-raising campaigns in Curaçao."
- Jérémie Pellet, Director General of Expertise France

"True resilience," Downer concluded, "emerges when islands control their own financial destiny."

By combining institutional innovation and creative financial tools, OCTs can evolve from dependence on external aid to economies capable of self-financing their adaptation and resilience goals.

At a time when COP30 is calling for more accessible and transparent climate finance, the experiences shared in this session show that, when islands design and manage their own financial ecosystems, they become global leaders in resilience innovation.