Bridging the gap: scaling policy implementation support in SIDS with new UK International Development funding

When developing a systems change strategy, there is one key stage that all policymakers are keenly aware of: the transition from announcement to action.

Over the past couple of years, we have seen firsthand the ambition of our country partners in Small Island States. Taking the bold and important step of developing evidence-based national policy plans places Guinea-Bissau, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Saint Lucia, and Tuvalu as global frontrunners when it comes to tackling plastic pollution.

Whilst governments may be keen to ‘hit the ground running’ with their new roadmap, there is often a lot of work that goes into ensuring this transition is smooth, with the right cogs turning to drive effective implementation.

Despite their global ocean leadership, this is a stage where Small Island Developing States (SIDS) can face challenges on a national level.

Often referred to as the ‘implementation gap’, robust policies can struggle to translate into tangible results when governments are over capacity, under-financed, or lacking key information to guide decisionmaking and execution.

Through our work supporting SIDS to develop national-level policies to tackle plastic pollution, our government partners have consistently identified access to funding and lack of human resources as the main roadblocks they face when moving from plan to implementation.

This is a problem SIDS governments know only too well: only 0.2% of climate finance goes to SIDS – and what they do receive is often unpredictable. And, with often small populations, government officials are often stretched, covering numerous departments and initiatives within single roles.

SIDS and small coastal countries are on the frontlines of plastic pollution and among the countries least resourced to address it. Yet, as stewards of over 30% of the world’s ocean, they are also powerful leaders.

Bridging the implementation gap to embed plastic policies for SIDS is therefore vital for not only their national prosperity, but also for the future of our shared planet.

At Common Seas, our government partnerships are designed to help overcome some of the barriers SIDS face and build a healthier future through collaboration.

With new funding from the UK Government’s Sustainable Blue Economies programme, we will be working side-by-side with our government partners to deliver the tailored expertise needed to turn plans into action.

This builds off all of our work so far, from co-developing NAPs to supporting the governments of Saint Lucia and Guinea-Bissau to cost model the most impactful interventions, identify the right financing, and build skills and capacity required to implement their plans.

Now, we will be scaling this support to new countries, and beginning projects to trial some of the most impactful policies in practice.

Some of our next steps will include:

• Undertaking a cost assessment of priority policies in Papua New Guinea, following the publication of their National Action Plan
• Increasing institutional capacity in some of our country partners to accelerate implementation of policy plans
• Scoping the potential for scalable reuse systems in Saint Lucia
• Kicking off a feasibility study for regional EPR system with Indian Ocean Commission member states, while identifying additional partners
• Activities to bridge the gap between the private sector and SIDS

Looking ahead, we are excited to deepen our partnerships with government partners, regional organisations and the private sector in driving a whole-of-society shift towards a more sustainable blue economy for SIDS.