Islands & Water Task Force

Islands around the world come in all different forms. There are at least (probably more) three groupings that can be important from a science / policy perspective. First, depending on their geological nature and climatic conditions islands will rely on different freshwater sources (groundwater, rainwater, desalination). Second, depending on capacity and resources islands will be able to rely more (or less) on their freshwater resources. Whilst there are official UN related classifications, such as SIDS, there may be other (and better) ways to differentiate islands based on criteria other than GDP and economic growth. Third, islands can be more easily grouped into sovereign island states, sub-national island jurisdictions and oversea island territories. Furthermore, within any of these categories main and outer islands can be considered.

Building on the above-mentioned categories, there is an important question that drives the work of the Task Force: to what extent the management of freshwater framed around the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) aligns and responds to island realities. In some policy circles this is called “island proofing”. Two further aspects related to IWRM (or missing therein depending on the context) are the importance and integration of coastal marine waters and the role that informal institutions can (or should) play in shaping and implementing IWRM at an island level. Whilst IWRM related questions are for the Task Force to tackle, it is very likely that they will lead to a nuanced answer based on the different island context. It is also very likely that different parts of the ridge to reef water cycle of IWRM may require different approaches from an island perspective, whilst others may be more aligned to more general approaches that apply also to the so-called mainland. What is clear is that IWRM, as a concept, has not been developed having islands in mind. However, whether there is an island alternative to IWRM, or even an overarching alternative to IWRM, both for islands and non-islands, is something for the Task Force to look into. Finally, it will be important to better understand, in the context of the overarching question of islandness and IWRM, the science / policy space and how IWRA can contribute positively there to.

Further background to the development of the Task Force is the international policy environment that focuses directly and indirectly with islands and freshwater. An initial screening calls for attention to the implementation of the SIDS-4 outcome (islands focused) and on the UN Water Conference (water focused). However, there are many other “fora” that are relevant, such as, just to name a few, the UN Finance for Development Cooperation Conference, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change process, and the UN Biodiversity Convention process. There are also important regional initiatives that call for special attention, such as the Pasifika Engagement Strategy for Water Security 2025-2030, the Regional Integrated Water Resource Management Framework for the Caribbean (2024) and the Regional Strategic Action Plan for the Water Sector in the Caribbean to Develop Resilience to the Impacts of Climate Change (2021). IWRA, through the Task Force, needs to explore how best to leverage its science / policy interface and expertise within this complex and fragmented water and islands related international policy environment. Furthermore, IWRA has started to not only contribute, but also lead in the islands and water environment by contributing to the MOU establishing the Torshavn Dialogue on the Sustainable Management of Freshwater on Islands.

Francesco Sindico is a member of the IWRA Executive Board and a Professor at the University of Strathclyde Law School in Glasgow where he founded and was Director for ten years of the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law and Governance (SCELG). From an islands’ perspective his work centres on the role of law in promoting public participation towards greater sustainability and resilience. From a freshwater perspective, his research focuses mainly on the international law of transboundary aquifers and water governance. Francesco is currently on secondment with the Scottish Government (since September 2021) where he leads the Carbon Neutral Islands Project. Francesco is also the co-chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law Climate Change Law Specialist Group and a Director of the Climate Change Litigation Initiative (C2LI). Francesco has experience in advising governments and international organisations before international courts and contributing to capacity building programmes in developing countries.

Dr Milika Naqasima Sobey is an indigenous Fijian who currently works as a Technical Adviser-Coastal Ecosystems for GIZ Pacific. Milika was an academic for 20 years, teaching and conducting research at the University of the South Pacific.  Her research interests included nutrient cycling, fisheries, coral reef ecology and water quality.    She has worked at IUCN Oceania managing donor funded Climate Change Adaptation projects in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga.  For freshwater systems, Milika has worked on water quality monitoring, freshwater fisheries, catchment management and most recently on the political economy of the water sector in select Pacific Island countries.  Milika was one of the founding members of the Women in Fisheries Network and continues to do voluntary work for Nature Fiji-Mareqeti Viti and Fiji Environmental Law Association.

Manuel Sapiano is the Chief Executive Officer of the Energy and Water Agency (EWA) within Malta’s Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Enterprise.  In this role, he coordinates a team of experts with responsibilities for the formulation, evaluation, monitoring and implementation of national policies concerning the use of energy and water in a sustainable manner and the formulation of plans to meet National and EU energy and water resources management targets. Mr Sapiano is a hydrogeologist, with specific specialisation in island and coastal hydrology.  He has previously led the Agency’s Water Policy Unit, where he had the responsibility of coordinating the implementation process of EU related water legislation in the Maltese islands. He has been involved in the implementation process of the EU Water Framework Directive since 2002, where within the Common Implementation Strategy of this Directive, he fulfils the role of Water Director for Malta.

Óluva holds a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. in Geology from Lunds University, Sweden and a Ph.D. from the University of Copenhagen. Since 2011 she has worked as a research geologist at the Faroese Geological Survey in Tórshavn, the Faroe Islands. Her research focus was initially on offshore petroleum exploration, logging interpretation, petrophysics and formation evaluation in volcanic basins but has expanded to incorporate onshore groundwater and geothermal energy matters the recent years, where she has been involved in a row of groundwater project. Additionally she is the project leader of one current groundwater project aiming to use groundwater as an energy source and for the recently funded and newly initiated project Investigation of the groundwater potential in the Faroe Islands.

Dr. Ronald Roopnarine is a researcher and academic with a thorough background in Disaster Risk Resilience and Sustainable Land and Water Resource Management. Presently, Dr. Roopnarine is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Food and Agriculture, University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus (FFA, UWI) responsible for teaching and development of courses related to Agri-environmental Disaster Risk and Climate Resilience. He is also the Network Manager of Caribbean WaterNet, (Caribbean arm of CapNet UNDP) and a consultant for various international and regional developmental and state agencies. He has also served on numerous projects implemented by various UN agencies such as UN-water, UN- FAO, UN Environment and UNDP. Thus far he has amassed significant experience in Integrated Water Resources Management, Land management and Climate Change Adaptations, with specific focus on Caribbean Small Island Developing States.

Dr. Kamanamaikalani Beamer is a full professor and the inaugural Dana Naone Hall Endowed Chair in Hawaiian Studies, Literature, & the Environment at Hawaiʻinuiākea School of Hawaiian Knowledge (HSHK) at the University of Hawaiʻi, Mānoa. He serves a dual appointment in HSHK and in the William S. Richardson School of Law, Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law. Dr. Beamer has multiple publications in the study of aloha ʻāina and the Circular Economy (CE). His books include No Mākou Ka Mana: Liberating the Nation (2014) and Islands & Cultures: How Pacific Islands Provide Paths Toward Sustainability (2022). He served two consecutive terms as a Commissioner on the Hawaiʻi State Water Resource Management Commission (2013-2021). After eight years of service, his accomplishments include restoring water to forty-five streams across Hawaiʻi and challenging the U.S. Navy on issues at Red Hill. Dr. Beamer is a father, organizer, and activist in movements to advance aloha ʻāina and water justice.