Authors: Sanika Santhosh, Rebecca Julienne and Shana Pareemamun
On 18 August 2026, the Republic of Seychelles officially launched the RESIslands Project, a multi-country, climate-resilience initiative led by the African Island States Climate Commission (AISCC), which Seychelles chairs. Seychelles is the second country to launch the project at the national level, following Equatorial Guinea earlier this year.
The project, formally titled "Strengthening the institutional capacity of the African Island States Climate Commission (AISCC) member states to manage climate risks and bolster resilience, RESIslands", is a USD 4.95 million flagship initiative of the AISCC, implemented by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) with financing from the Green Climate Fund. It will fund capacity building and the development and revision of strategic frameworks for early warning systems and disaster risk reduction, strengthen multi-hazard risk assessment capabilities, and develop climate finance pipelines across the region. Ultimately, RESIslands aims to strengthen national-level readiness, helping safeguard lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems against the escalating impacts of climate change.
Why It Matters
African Island States are among the world's most climate-vulnerable nations, confronting rising sea levels, stronger storms, coastal erosion, ocean acidification, water shortages, cyclones, flash floods, and unpredictable rainfall. These pressures often leave countries facing irreversible loss and damage, trapped in a punishing cycle of recovery and relapse.
Technical and institutional capacity gaps tend to complicate timely, well-informed policy action during climate-related disasters, a gap RESIslands is designed to close.
The Launch
The launch ceremony took place in Beau Vallon, bringing together government officials, regional partners, technical institutions, civil society representatives, and international delegates to kick off the project nationally. Remarks came from representatives of the ECA and the Green Climate Fund, as well as the UN Resident Coordinator a.i. for Mauritius & Seychelles, who reaffirmed the UN's commitment to supporting Seychelles and the wider AISCC membership throughout implementation.
What It Means for Seychelles
Speaking at the launch, the Minister for Environment, Climate, Energy and Natural Resources, Hon. Marie-May Jeremie, underscored the urgency of the project for Seychelles and its island neighbours.
"Climate change is not a distant policy debate for us, it is our daily reality," said Minister Jeremie. "Through RESIslands, we are not simply receiving support; we are taking ownership of our resilience, together with our partners and every stakeholder in this room."
The Minister added that although the African Island States are geographically separated from the continental mainland, their needs remain central to Africa's broader climate and disaster risk agenda, a position Seychelles, as AISCC Chair, will continue to advocate in continental forums.
Seychelles has long been regarded as a pioneer in climate adaptation and mitigation. As Kjartan Fjeldsted of the ECA put it, " Seychelles is a pioneer in climate resilience, sustainable development and environmental conservation. It is also the permanent presidency of the AISCC and as such, has an indispensable role to play and a lot to offer other African island states in terms of experience and lessons learned. Under Seychelles’s strategic leadership, the ECA is confident that the RESIslands Initiative will advance the common interests of African island states in a world where an effective response to climate change is ever more urgent."
Yet the country still faces real obstacles. The Principal Secretary for Risk and Disaster Management, Mr. Daniel Cetoupe, noted that Seychelles struggles to access climate finance because it is classified as a high-income country, a designation that shuts it out of many funding streams despite its acute exposure to climate risk. In this light, RESIslands is seen as a significant step for a nation caught between the pressures of climate-driven recovery and destruction.
A second recurring concern was the lack of climate-related data. The goal now is to collect, digitise, and make this data publicly available, a step that could both reduce disaster impact and support local businesses.
What’s Next
Discussions concluded with plans for capacity development workshops and knowledge exchange events to help define Seychelles' specific resilience needs, laying the groundwork for stronger national capacity to anticipate and respond to climate and disaster risks in the years ahead.