Hon. Waven William has been engaged in a variety of overseas missions in his capacity as the President of the Committee of Sustainable Development of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
The first of these two missions was held in Natadola, Fiji, in which Hon. William was a panelist at the Parliament of Fiji 2024 Retreat, covering engaging topics including climate change, global parliamentary engagement, and disaster risk financing. Hon. William gave an insightful presentation on the comparative contexts of Seychelles in addressing climate change, including its impact, the rules and regulations which are being introduced or adapted, and the process in which such rules are developed. A pertinent point made was that of Seychelles being a leader in the launching of the Debt-For-Nature Swap and Blue Bond initiative.
It was remarked by Hon. William that these sessions involving multiple Small Island Developing States (SIDS) “strengthened the alliance further, to better improve the rounds of ongoing negotiations of climate financing with developed countries." In a following workshop, Hon. William was a panelist in a session focused on the roles of parliamentary committees, the tools used to promote committee work, and the importance of Executive-Parliamentary collaboration. This session provided an ample opportunity for discussion and the sharing of best practices amongst the parliamentarians.
The next mission was the second cohort of the Blue Planet Alliance Fellowship program which took place in Honolulu, Hawaii. The sessions hosted experts and delegates from the legislative branch, regulatory sector, civil society groups, amongst others, to come together and participate in a collaborative forum. The mission of Blue Planet Alliance is to “get islands and countries around the world to legislatively mandate a commitment to 100% renewable energy by 2045. We are also working with governments, businesses, and individuals to help grow a global movement aimed at reducing the negative impact on the planet, thus aligning human behavior more in harmony with nature.”
Themes of the workshops included renewable technologies, accelerating climate action, ‘Island Energy Transitions’, and other salient issues affecting island territories and oceanic states. A major focus was on the processes involved in accelerating global actions to transition to net zero emissions before 2025, as well as the achievement of 100% renewable energy usage. Following the fruitful sessions, Hon. William remarked that "the political will has to transcend into climate change and sustainable development laws to back up the national determined contribution pledges made from the time the Paris agreement was adopted and to now."
