6 A N N UA L R E P O R T O N G LO B A L I S L A N D S 2021

Introduction
J A M E S E . R A N D A L L , University of Prince Edward Island, Canada

Last year, the theme of the Annual Report on Global Islands was the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on island development. Unfortunately, the pandemic continues
to affect the social and economic development of island nations and territories. How-
ever, rather than publishing a ‘2.0’ version of last year’s COVID-19 themed report, we
have opted to explore the progress by island governments in addressing the United
Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as issues related to carbon
neutrality, trade, and tourism. This does not suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic will
be ignored; it would be naïve to think that it does not continue to affect almost every
aspect of island development prospects. However, examining the 2030 Sustainable
Development Goals on islands does allow us to look more closely at how jurisdictions
may be building resilience so that they are better prepared for future extreme events.
An important part of the Islands initiative started by Hainan’s Foreign Affairs Office
is the annual 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Islands Economic Cooperation Forum,
which is itself a part of the Boao Forum for Asia. This year, the 2021 Forum was held
on April 15th and focused on the theme of promoting the building of ocean communi-
ties with a shared future. As in past years, the Forum invited senior-level government
officials, scholars, non-governmental representatives, and senior executives from the
private sector to participate. To protect the public health of attendees and the local
Hainan population, this year’s Forum once again adopted a hybrid format, with
presentations made face-to-face and by video. The session was introduced and mod-
erated by the Ambassador of Malta to China, Mr. John Aquilina. Mr. Aquilina welcomed
those attending and stated that the session would include a video, several keynote
speeches, short presentations by panelists, and announcements on new initiatives.
The video celebrated the accomplishments of this Forum over the past five years.
In addition to these annual meetings, which serve as a regular benchmark for progress,
successes include workshops, conferences, and publications. Two of the keynotes were
delivered in person, one by the Governor of Hainan Province, Mr. Feng Fei, and a second
by a representative of Mr. Wu Jianghao, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for China.
Two keynotes were also shown by video technology; one by Mr. Tearii Te Moana Alpha,
who at the time of the Forum was the Vice President of French Polynesia and Minister
of Agriculture, the Blue Economy and Domain, and the second by Ms. Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo, Board Member of the Boao Forum for Asia and a former President of the
 INTRODUCTION 7

Philippines. In Mr. Wu’s remarks, he commended the organizers for twenty years of
hosting the Boao Forum and congratulated them on the fifth anniversary of the Islands
Economic Cooperation Forum. He indicated that mutual trust and respect has brought
about the creation and growth of the free trade port on Hainan and recognition that
Hainan serves as the pivot for the Maritime Silk Roads (MSR) initiative.
Hainan’s Governor Feng Fei reminded those attending the Forum what all
islanders know: that the ocean does not separate us — it connects us. He expounded
on the success of the free trade port where, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the num-
ber of new companies has doubled in the past year. He proposed four new initiatives
to guide Hainan’s future in the MSR initiative: 1) expand the free trade port; 2) expand
industrial partnerships within Hainan and, as part of the global value chains, with other
global partners; 3) protect the ocean environments; and 4) build international collab-
oration in establishing Hainan as a global hub in island studies research.
The virtual appearance by Mr. Alpha as a keynote speaker is a testament to the
importance the organizers feel about including the voices from subnational island
jurisdictions such as French Polynesia. Island states are critical partners in the MSR
initiative but so too are semi-autonomous islands. Vice President Alpha reminded
those present that many islanders, and especially those in the Pacific, prefer to think
of their countries as “large ocean states” rather than the more conventional term of
“small island states.” This preference in terminology is in part symbolic, but also
reflects the sheer magnitude of the marine areas for which many of these jurisdictions
have responsibility — in many cases larger than that of continents. In French Polynesia,
this is reflected in a popular saying that “the Earth is blue.” The greatest challenge
facing French Polynesia, together with their metropole France, is to reconcile two
imperatives: to safeguard the physical environment and to develop the economy. He
reminded us that protecting the environment does not necessarily mean forgoing
economic opportunities. To illustrate his point, he noted that French Polynesia has
taken on new initiatives, including expanding the concept of ‘blue health’ (i.e., deriving
public health advances from marine resources) and creating a hub for international
fisheries in the South Central Pacific. In her statement, former President Gloria
Arroyo stressed the role that the Philippines has played in peacefully settling gover-
nance disputes in the South China Sea and in fisheries. She reminded everyone that,
although humans may establish national marine boundaries, fish do not recognize
these boundaries. Therefore, we must put in place processes that mobilize our expertise
and promote cooperation across borders.
After these keynotes, the moderator asked the panelists, two of whom made their
presentations by video, to come to the front of the room and give short statements on
one or more of the topics of island governance, the marine economy, marine environ-
mental protection, and/or ocean cooperation between China and ASEAN nations. Mr.
Djauhari Oratmangun, the Ambassador of Indonesia to China, noted that Indonesia
8 A N N UA L R E P O R T O N G LO B A L I S L A N D S 2021

is an archipelagic nation, with at least 6,000 inhabited islands. He reminded us that

Indonesia established the Archipelagic and Island States Forum in 2017 to address
climate change and marine issues in light of SDG 14 (conservation and sustainable use
of oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development). He pointed to one
specific example where China and Indonesia have cooperated in bringing together the
Belt and Road Initiative with Indonesia’s Global Maritime Fulcrum initiative to expand
the digital economy. Dr. Palitha T. B. Kohona, the Ambassador of Sri Lanka to China,
reminded all present that we are surrounded by the sea and it has conditioned us for
centuries. Sri Lanka was long considered an entrepôt or trading centre throughout the
Indian Ocean region and beyond, a role that Hainan is striving to establish for itself
now as a hub in the MSR initiative.
As the UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability, Prince Edward Island’s
Dr. James Randall reminded us of the difference between government and governance,
where the latter term encompasses a much larger group of stakeholders. He noted that
it may be easy to make laws but, if you really want them to be effective, you need to
have all parties participating right from the planning stage. He ended his video pres-
entation by calling for action in four areas: more and better data on which to base our
policies and strategies (especially for semi-autonomous islands); create and strengthen
mechanisms for islanders’ voices to be heard, in addition to involving leaders of island
states; reach out to leaders of both island states and SNIJs; and “island proof” your
legislation to ensure that islands are not marginalized in national policy discussions.
The President of the Pacific–China Friendship Association, Mr. Hiria Ottino, also
spoke to the issue of island governance by video. Given the highly dispersed and diverse
islands in the Pacific, the greatest challenge facing them is governance, and in partic-
ular whether to centralize or disperse the delivery of public services. Either choice has
its advantages and disadvantages. He told the Forum that island nations need to be
open economically, but to also be cautious that this openness does not significantly
damage local employment opportunities. This theme of economic and trade openness
is taken up later in this Report in the chapter by Carmichael and Jia.
Finally, the Deputy Director-General of the Island Research Center at China’s
Ministry of Natural Resources, Mr. Feng Aiping, reminded us of the importance of
cooperation in protecting island coastal ecosystems. Island communities and their
physical environments are more resilient and creative when local communities guide
the process in their own backyards. Up to 2018, using the ecological red line policy,
China’s central and local governments have invested more than 10 billion yuan to
restore the ecologies of 3,000 coastal islands.
The 2021 Islands Economic Cooperation Forum ended with two exciting announce-
ments. The first announcement, made by video by Dr. Randall, was that Hainan was
about to establish its own Island Research Centre. Based on consultations with inter-
national experts, this new think tank would be both local and global in scope, would
 INTRODUCTION 9

focus on issues that are critical to the development of Hainan and that have inter-
national relevance, and would have both Chinese and international partners. One of
the advantages held by Hainan in this initiative is the foundational role played by these
Forums which, from the start, have emphasized the importance of bringing together
island scholars, government departments, non-governmental organizations, and
executives of private sector corporations in resolving sustainable island development
issues. The second announcement, made by Mr. Wang Sheng, the Director-General of
the Foreign Affairs Office of Hainan Province, was the release of the 2020 Annual Report
on Global Islands. As noted above, this volume provided new peer-reviewed research
from Chinese and international experts on island development during the COVID-19
public health crisis.

SUMMARY OF CHAPTERS

As with previous editions of the Annual Reports, this Report is divided into three sec-
tions: a) an initial background that summarizes the 2021 Islands Economic Cooperation
Forum and provides an overview of the chapters in this volume, and a chapter which
updates and interprets the development statistics of the island states and subnational
islands that are part of this research; b) several chapters that address aspects of island
development, in this case pertaining to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development
Goals; and c) chapters that focus on environmental protection, trade, and tourism.
Two years into the COVID-19 pandemic is an opportune time to discuss the
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Not only should we take stock of progress
towards achieving these 17 goals as we approach the 2030 deadline, but the COVID-19
pandemic has prompted many jurisdictions to reassess their progress in meeting their
development goals. In some cases, progress has stalled or worsened, making islands
even more vulnerable to crises. In other cases, island governments have become more
proactive, investing in policies and actions that will bring them closer to meeting the
SDGs while also making them more resilient to the next public health crisis, economic
dislocation, or the existential threat posed by global warming.
Chapter 1 (Randall and Su) carries on the tradition of compiling and interpreting
the most recent development statistics for a set of 48 island states and 13 island terri-
tories. As with previous editions of the Annual Report, this narrative goes beyond
describing the patterns in the tables. It introduces the most recent peer-reviewed
literature on the topic and, where applicable, focuses on explaining islands that appear
to be anomalous when analyzing some of the characteristics. It also takes a longer time
frame, often showing how islands have changed over the past five to ten years. An
indicator of the usefulness of these statistics is that several of the contributors to this
volume have used the statistical profiles from previous editions of the Annual Reports
to argue their positions.
10 A N N UA L R E P O R T O N G LO B A L I S L A N D S 2021

In Chapter 2, Mohan provides us with an overview of the progress islands have

made in addressing the SDGs, especially during the most recent two years. Focusing
on island states and subnational islands that are part of earlier Annual Reports, the
author uses indicators of SDG progress developed by Sachs and colleagues (2020, 2021)
and compares these to the SDG reports produced by island governments, and especially
their Voluntary National Reviews. In so doing, Mohan measures their actual progress
against their rhetoric. Overall, islands have made more substantial progress on the SDGs
related to education (SDG 4), clean energy (SDG 7), and climate action (SDG 13), and less
progress on eliminating poverty (SDG 1) and hunger (SDG 2), and improving health (SDG
3). Given that all of these places are islands, most disconcerting is that the greatest
challenges are related to SDG 14 (life below water) and SDG 15 (life on land). It should
come as no surprise that islands within the developed world have made more substantial
progress at meeting the SDGs than those in the developing world. Based on several case
studies, Mohan concludes that there is great potential for islands to make progress in
the areas of green energy, the blue economy, and digital transformation.
Chapters 3 and 4 reflect on specific SDGs in relation to island development. The
chapter by Moncada and Randall (Chapter 3) addresses what some research suggests
is a critical component to achieving the SDGs: the relationship between island resi-
dents’ perceptions regarding how well their governments have addressed the SDGs
versus the actual actions taken. The chapter also explores the influence of other factors
in this relationship, including wealth, population size, and political independence. One
finding is that there is a much closer association between perceptions and government
actions in small island states than in SNIJs. Wang Sheng (Chapter 4) focuses on two
SDGs that are indispensable to the security and development of islands: SDG 13
(climate change) and SDG 14 (life below water). Using examples from China, and as a
way for jurisdictions to achieve carbon neutrality, the chapter encourages a blue carbon
sustainable development focus for island and mainland governments. This includes
the development of carbon sinks in industrial sectors such as the fisheries, and injecting
a blue carbon focus on financing and marketing.
Chapter 5 (Sindico) continues the theme of examining carbon neutrality, starting
with the context of small islands and then using the lessons learnt to apply successful
policies elsewhere. Sindico outlines how influential islands have already been in shap-
ing the global climate change debate, including at the 2021 COP26 meetings in Glas-
gow, Scotland. The chapter lays out the rationale for this attention, including the perils
that many islands face with rising sea levels and more intense weather events, as well
as challenges facing islands in implementing and monitoring the success of island net
zero pathways. The author uses the example of the Scottish archipelagos to illustrate
those successes and challenges.
In Chapter 6, Carmichael and Jia question the accuracy of the neoliberal contention
that trade liberalization, in the form of trade agreements that reduce tariff barriers,
 INTRODUCTION 11

automatically leads to economic growth for all participating countries. Using a forty-
year data set (1970–2010) from thirteen Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the
Pacific, they conclude that being a party to global trade agreements such as member-
ship in the World Trade Organization did not necessarily lead to economic development
for those islands. Participating in regional trade agreements, however, was much more
likely to benefit SIDS economically.
Islands have been challenged with developing creative ways to protect the environ-
ment while not losing the economic benefits associated with international tourism. It
is apparent that regulation alone may not achieve the desired goals. In Chapter 7, Graci
shows that there are many examples where islands have effectively used non-regulatory
tools to preserve vulnerable ecosystems, despite the pressures of tourism. The chapter
concludes that one of the keys to success is to ensure that local communities are active
participants in developing, implementing, and enforcing the strategies. This results in
approaches that fit local contexts and are overseen by local stakeholders.
Finally, in Chapter 8, Zhen argues that the environmental planning established in
Hainan, and especially around the Hainan Free Trade Port, has made Hainan an exem-
plar for other islands dealing with the issue of preserving fragile ecosystems while still
engaging in development. The author uses the examples of the endangered Hainan
gibbon, coral reefs on the south shore of the island, and ecotourism in Hainan’s Bawan-
gling National Forest Park to illustrate the argument.

REFERENCES

Carmichael, C., & Jia, G. (2022). Economic growth through trade liberalization for Small Island
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Annual report on global islands 2021 (pp. 153-169). Island Studies Press.
Graci, S. (2022). Exploring the use of environmental instruments as a method to promote
sustainable tourism in islands. In J. E. Randall (Ed.), Annual report on global islands 2021
(pp. 171-198). Island Studies Press.
Mohan, P. (2022). Islands and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): A holistic perspec-
tive. In J. E. Randall (Ed.), Annual report on global islands 2021 (pp. 61-83). Island Studies
Press.
Sachs, J., Kroll, C., Lafortune, G., Fuller, G., & Woelm, F. (2021). Sustainable development report
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Sachs, J., Schmidt-Traub, G., & Lafortune, G. (2020). Speaking truth to power about the
Sustainable Development Goals [Working paper]. United Nations Sustainable Development
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Sindico, F. (2022). Islands, climate change, and net zero. In J. E. Randall (Ed.), Annual report on
global islands 2021 (pp. 125-152). Island Studies Press.