Climate and disaster resilient transport in Small Island Developing States: Resilient transport providing a lifeline against disasters

Though located in various oceans, many Small Island Developing States (SIDS) share a major common feature: they are among the most exposed nations to natural hazards and climate change. The transport sector, critical to the economy and society of SIDS, is often the main infrastructure sector in these countries. Strengthening the resilience of the transport sector will have multiplier effects in building the resilience in SIDS. Therefore, there is an urgent need to increase the resilience of the transport sector in the face of a changing climate and increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events.

This brief discusses how four SIDS countries: Vanuatu and Solomon Islands (Pacific Region); Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG, Caribbean Region); and Cape Verde (Africa Region) have advanced their understanding of and developed tools to assess the specific climate and natural hazard vulnerabilities of their transport assets with support from the Japan-World Bank Program for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management in Developing Countries.