Seychelles shares Blue economy experience with Caribbean and G20 |17 April 2015

The Minister for Finance, Trade and the Blue Economy Jean-Paul Adam shared Seychelles' experience on the Blue economy at a special meeting of the G20 chairmanship and the Caribbean countries.

This took place on the margins of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring meetings in Washington.
Seychelles was invited as a special guest in view of its leadership in the development of the Blue economy.

In his presentation, Minister Adam emphasised the role of the Blue economy to help small island developing states (Sids) move from ‘high debt and low growth scenarios' to sustainable wealth creation scenarios.

“We have to recognise that Sids are too often price takers in the global economy. We are vulnerable to external shocks – whether economic or environmental.
But through the Blue economy, Sids can lead. We can provide economic leadership in the global economy,” the minister stated in his presentation.

The minister was invited to share Seychelles' experience in reaching an agreement with the Paris Club of creditors on a debt for adaptation swap.

The minister outlined how Seychelles had negotiated a 5% discount on its debt buy back of USD 30 million of its Paris Club debt with the support of the Nature Conservancy and the forthcoming creation of the Seychelles Conservation and Climate Adaptation Trust (SEYCCAT), which will implement projects to benefit marine protection and sustainable economic activity around marine protected areas.

The experience of Seychelles was recognised as representing an important option for consideration by highly indebted Sids.

In the context of preparing for the Agreement on Climate Change expected in Paris at the end of 2015, the Seychelles debt swap also represents a practical solution which attracted great interest.

Minister Adam also floated the concept of 'Blue Bonds' which Seychelles is currently discussing with the support of the Prince's Trust and which will be further discussed with development partners during the Spring meetings.

The potential of Blue Bonds is to raise financing for the sustainable management of fisheries and ocean resources using market mechanisms but with the support of development institutions.

Such bonds can help create further financial flows to benefit people involved in fisheries in Sids.

The minister stressed that for the Blue Economy to succeed it was important to have strong local ownership. It was therefore essential that innovative financing could be raised to support local stakeholders, especially local artisanal fishing communities.

Minister Adam highlighted the creation of the Blue economy department to better coordinate the policy framework for oceanic development and to also maximise wealth creation opportunities for the Seychellois people.

The G20 leadership and Caribbean Sids hailed Seychelles' proposals as interesting innovations that could further enhance the debate on how best to finance the development of Sids, particularly in the context of the development of sustainable development goals in 2015, on the adoption of new financing for development mechanisms and the need for sustainable financing for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

The meeting also featured presentations by Dr Julian Roberts of the Commonwealth secretariat on how the Commonwealth could support the development of the Blue economy among its member states.

It is to be noted that Dr Roberts is also supporting the development of Seychelles' Blue economy roadmap.
The Government of Turkey that currently holds the Chair of the G20 and the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago had organised the special working session to raise the awareness of the G20 on the financing concerns of Sids.