ILCER aims to support island economies to develop and implement United States and international priorities to strengthen climate adaptation, green growth, and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The impacts of climate change are being felt around the world, particularly in SIDS, where the climate crisis is an existential threat. Many islands are facing changes in sea levels and coastal flooding, shifting temperature and rainfall patterns, and extreme events such as storms, droughts, marine heat waves, and ocean acidification. These events often compound and lead to cascading challenges including ecological degradation, loss of livelihoods, setbacks in development, and growing debt.

SIDS need improved tools to assess climate risks and pursue effective adaptive pathways that are developed in coordination with advocates and professionals with expertise on their respective islands. These networks require resources to establish fora for learning and collaboration to tackle climate challenges and grow capacities that suit their needs. Tailoring development goals and decision tools to their realities, in combination with technical expertise, will make islands more resilient in the decades to come. A.3. Project Goal
Build and expand on existing ILR2030 and SIDS efforts by strengthening partnerships with relevant regional institutions and leveraging existing networks and communities of practice to transition from planning to implementation of locally-led climate adaptation and green growth solutions.
A.4. Objectives
Objective 1: Strengthen interactive, participatory networks and consider the need for 1-2 new Communities of Practice . Activities to achieve this objective must include:
• Strengthen extensive island-based, peer-to-peer learning network(s) for island economies globally to support green growth, sustainable development, and climate resilience.
• Coordinate existing topic-specific Communities of Practice in which member islands can engage to support the implementation of climate resilience and net zero pathways plans.
• Launch 1-2 new Communities of Practice based on network members’ interest, such as on the climate-health nexus to support island economies with preparing for and responding to the health-related impacts of climate change, or on nature-based solutions.
• Establish strong relationships with bilateral development partners, UN organizations, development agencies, and other key stakeholders to facilitate long-term, sustainable pipelines of financial and technical support for implementation of activities for Communities of Practice member islands.
Objective 2: Provide direct technical assistance to at least 10 SIDS policymakers and/or practitioners to develop and implement adaptation, clean energy, and sustainable development actions that combat climate change. Activities to achieve this objective must include:
• Develop locally relevant, open-data platforms that enable
partner countries to identify economy-wide adaptation, clean energy, and sustainable development goals and targets and to track progress towards targets in a transparent manner.
• Establish public-private partnerships within and among select island economies that support diverse stakeholders in integrating sustainability priorities into policy and planning.
• Create innovative and cost-effective assistance mechanisms to facilitate support to island partner countries, which could include small grant opportunities and/or the establishment of a roster of experts to deliver on-demand climate solutions in key thematic areas of particular relevance for islands.
• Serve as a global thought leader on island-led climate solutions and produce materials – which could include policy briefs, toolkits, infographics – that provide strategic guidance and technical assistance to island economies to support climate resilience, sustainable development, and clean energy objectives.
Objective 3: Create and implement a lean secretariat function for ILR2030 with clear governance, organizational structure, and efficient communications to oversee and spur network development and maintenance. Activities to achieve this objective must include:
• Facilitate effective global convenings and efficient implementation of activities in member islands.
The above list of activities is not intended to be exhaustive, and the State Department, Office of Global Change (EGC) encourages organizations to generate and submit in their proposal additional, innovative approaches to achieve the goals and objectives of this grant.

Countries eligible for activities under this grant include: Antigua and Barbuda; The Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Cape Verde; Comoros; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Federated States of Micronesia; Fiji; Grenada; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; Jamaica; Kiribati; Maldives; Marshall Islands; Mauritius; Nauru; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Samoa; São Tomé und Príncipe; Seychelles; Solomon Islands; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Suriname; Timor-Leste; Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Tuvalu; Vanuatu; and Tanzania