Background
The African Island States Climate Commission (AISCC) was established by African Union Assembly decision in January 2017 and unites nine member states: Comoros, Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Mauritius, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles and Zanzibar (Tanzania). The Indian Ocean Commission hosts the Secretariat; UNECA is the principal technical partner.
At its Ministerial Conference in Guinea-Bissau (October 2025), the Commission adopted the Guinea-Bissau Pathway, its strategic framework for 2025–2030 built on six priority areas, together with a Mutual Cooperation Agreement (MOU), a rotating Vice-Presidency, a Carbon Registry and a Harmonised GHG Accounting and Reporting Protocol. Four member states have signed the MOU to date; signatures from Comoros, Madagascar, Sao Tome and Principe, Tanzania and Mauritius are outstanding, with completion targeted for COP31.
The RESIslands Initiative, the first AISCC flagship project, funded by the Green Climate Fund and implemented by UNECA, is strengthening institutional capacities, early warning systems, geo-information and multi-hazard risk assessment skills as well as climate finance readiness across all nine member states. National launches have been completed in six countries, with the remainder concluding through early 2027. The Technical Committee meeting in Mauritius (September 2026) agreed to align national pipelines with the six priority areas, target a regional pipeline by 2027 and use COP31 as the deadline for MOU signatures and endorsement letters for the AISCC Regional Co-Investment Platform for Climate Finance and Blue Economy.
Rationale
African Island States face accelerating climate impacts, including sea-level rise, coastal erosion, coral bleaching and intensifying storms, while their access to climate finance remains constrained by eligibility AISCC · COP31 Side Event Concept Note African Island States Climate Commission · Indian Ocean Commission · UNECA Page 2 criteria that do not reflect their vulnerability. Individually, their voices carry little weight in negotiations and funding decisions; collectively, they have driven results such as the loss and damage mechanism and the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index.
COP31 offers three converging opportunities: the presence of ministers from all member states; the scheduled regional launch of the RESIslands Initiative; and the natural deadline already agreed by the
Commission for completing the MOU and mobilising endorsement letters for the regional co-investment platform. A single, well-timed side event can convert these into visible commitments.
Documents