2000; Adger 2006; Adger et al. 2005). Small island developing states and small islands within larger states are physical, ecological, and social Vactosertib entities with distinctive

attributes related to their insularity, remoteness, size, geographic setting, climate, culture, governance, and economy (e.g. Pelling and Uitto 2001; Mimura et al. 2007; Hay 2013; Forbes et al. 2013). Yet despite the sense of separation that attends the experience of small islands, global change in a variety of forms impinges directly or indirectly on the environment and sustainability of these island communities. As a group, they pose some of the most striking challenges to sustainability Smoothened Agonist molecular weight science. Low-lying island states,

selleck compound such as the Maldives and Tuvalu, face pressing concerns about the limits to habitability under accelerated sea-level rise, the result of a warming global climate. Ocean warming and acidification pose threats to the conservation of reef corals and the stability and resilience of coral reefs under rising sea level (IPCC 2007). Together with concerns about freshwater resources, these environmental threats exacerbate challenges related to small size and remoteness, demographic pressures, small markets and limited economic opportunities, high per-capita infrastructure costs, reliance on external finance, limited technical capacity (including capacity for disaster response, recovery, and risk reduction), and cultural transformation through processes such as Histidine ammonia-lyase labour exports, growing international exposure, and internet access. The small populations and resource constraints of many small island states can limit the technical capacity of island institutions to deal with these challenges under conditions

in which past experience (traditional knowledge) may be a poor guide to the future. Solutions may be found by way of technical (e.g. hard or soft engineering), institutional, political or other approaches. Furthermore, there is a need to understand the multiple sources of hazards and threats, some of which originate with global climate change, while others may be due to maladaptive development at community and island scales (cited by several papers in this Special Issue). If major reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are achieved, but local maladaptation continues, it is quite possible that negative climate-change impacts will still occur. Thus small islands may be both victims and agents of inadequate responses to climate change. It is therefore important to reduce vulnerability, to seek and implement affordable adaptation strategies, to support joint efforts at regional and international levels, and to build resilience by incorporating adaptation needs and options into the awareness, decision making, planning and actions of those living on small islands (Jerneck et al. 2011).