"The environment is where we all meet; where all of us have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share."
Lady Bird Johnson, Former First Lady , USA
The Key Role of Small States: Reimagining Environmental Multilateralism
Resolving global environmental challenges requires global cooperation and strong multilateral institutions. Despite five decades of multilateral governance efforts, the global community continues to face escalating environmental crises. The 2022 UN report, A Breakthrough for People and Planet, emphasized the need to rebuild trust in multilateralism and elevate the environment within the global governance framework. Effective and inclusive multilateral institutions are more critical than ever for fostering collaboration and coordinated responses to these challenges.
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Traditionally, large states have been seen as the primary drivers of global environmental initiatives, given their substantial contributions to consumption, emissions, and environmental harm. However, our theory of change centers on the role of small states—nations that "punch above their weight" in global environmental governance.
Our theory of change centers on the role of small states—nations that "punch above their weight" in global environmental governance.
Documentary: Small States Beyond Plastics
Small States Beyond Plastics is a documentary directed by Kylee Hendrie (Northeastern University) that showcases the important role small states have in creating meaningful change on a global level. The UN is set to create a global plastics treaty to reduce plastic production and waste, an issue that disproportionately affects small states. This short film promotes the power that small states have in the wake of new multilateral environmental agreements, and beyond.
"If all small states are ambitious, then we are going to pull off an ambitious treaty."
— Juliet Kabera, Director General,
Rwanda Environment Management Authority
Objectives:
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Create a cadre of small state ambassadors on environmental multilateralism who can support each other to strengthen their collective role and impact in environmental negotiations and performance.
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Empower small states to launch new initiatives globally and improve the implementation of environmental commitments nationally.
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Enhance South-South cooperation among small states.
Our goal is to create a Knowledge Network of Small States to facilitate knowledge generation and exchange about small-state institutions, processes, and performance on multilateral environmental agreements. The creation of new knowledge and new networks will empower small states to maximize their ideational resources, take the initiative, and exercise leadership both individually and collectively.
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Creating opportunities to connect with similar states will strengthen the voice and influence of small states in multilateral environmental negotiations. For example, AOSIS, the Alliance of Small Island States formed in 1990, enabled South-South cooperation on the environment by creating joint positions and proposals, advocating for these states’ specific needs in global climate governance, and amplifying their concerns at a global level. Similarly, we seek to foster solidarity and cooperation as well as the sharing of knowledge to enable small states to address common environmental challenges collectively.