Press Release by the Global Island Partnership
WASHINGTON, D.C., April 29, 2019 — The Global Island Partnership, led by island leaders from Palau, Seychelles, Grenada, Marshall Islands and British Virgin Islands congratulates the Atlantic Council on launching the new Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center in Washington DC today.
Formed with the announcement of a gift of $25-million from business leader and philanthropist Adrienne Arsht and a $30-million grant from The Rockefeller Foundation, the center will identify, implement and scale solutions to the urgent global issues of climate change, migration and security with the goal of reaching one billion people by 2030.
The Center will use a range of evidence-based and innovative approaches, including policy frameworks, finance and risk transfer tools, and technology and communications strategies, including the performing arts.
The Global Island Partnership will be an early partner to the initiative along with the Urban Institute, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd., the Red Cross, Swiss Re, HR&A Advisors and governments across the Caribbean through the Caribbean Catastrophic Risk and Insurance Facility.
“We congratulate the Atlantic Council on launching the Adrienne Arsht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center with this aspirational but achievable goal of reaching 1 billion people by 2030. We also congratulate Kathy Baughman McLeod on her appointment as the Center’s first Director,” Kate Brown, Executive Director of the Global Island Partnership (GLISPA).
“We look forward to working together with the Center as an early partner to highlight island leadership and island solutions as we collectively build resilience around the globe. We appreciate the focus on implementation and moving from strategizing to doing and see many opportunities for synergy and leveraging impact with GLISPA activities.”
“We’re inspired by the announcement from the Adrienne Arscht-Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Center and their vision in building a more resilient, secure future. As laboratories for innovation, islands are leading with scalable solutions that cut across the energy-water-food nexus. This initiative with key partners in the finance, data and insurance sector has the potential to have a major impact in communities across the world,” Celeste Connors, former White House Director for Climate Change and Environment, Executive Director of the Hawaii Green Growth Local2030 Islands Hub and GLISPA Board member.
Background on the Global Island Partnership
The Global Island Partnership (GLISPA) works with islands to address one of the world’s greatest challenges — to conserve and sustainably utilize invaluable island natural resources that support people, cultures and livelihoods in their island homes around the world. It is a partnership for all islands, regardless of size or political status, to take bold steps towards greater sustainability. It provides a global platform that enables islands to work together to develop solutions to common problems and to take high-level commitments and actions that address these global challenges.
GLISPA is a partner of a United Nations Local2030 Hub for Islands together with Hawaii Green Growth, and through the hub engages other islands in developing shared goals, increasing accountability and transparency through dashboards and measures, and supporting project pipeline development in islands that can be scaled to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Email: Kate.Brown@glispa.org Twitter: @Glispa_Discuss
