There is a warning that island economies could be collateral damage of the fighting in Ukraine.
The caution comes from Chair of the Executive Council of SIDS DOCK, Ronald Jumeau who is the Ambassador and former Permanent Representative of the Republic of Seychelles to the United Nations and the SIDS DOCK Roving Ambassador for Oceans.
The international organisation was created to build sustainable energy and climate change resilience in small island countries.
The group is worried Small Island Developing States economies, struggling to recover from the battering by the COVID-19 pandemic, could be devastated by oil prices spiked by the war in Ukraine.
Ambassador Jumeau said small island developing states already have a ninety per cent dependency on petroleum fuels for commercial energy, costing more than $220 billion per year, pre-COVID-19.
Ambassador Jumeau forecasted they will now see a significant escalation in the cost of imports, particularly food, as almost all small islands import 60 per cent or more of their food needs.
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