Prime Minister Gaston Browne Calls for Island-Led Investment and Partnership at Family Offices for Sustainable Development Summit
Prime Minister the Honourable Gaston Browne on Wednesday addressed the Family Offices for Sustainable Development (FOSD) Summit, urging global investors and development partners to move “from vulnerability to value” by aligning capital with the resilience and growth ambitions of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
Speaking to an international audience of family offices, philanthropy leaders, and diplomats, Prime Minister Browne warned that SIDS are approaching the end of the 2030 Agenda while “edging backward” on the Paris Agreement, even as climate threats intensify and debt burdens mount.
“We are not canaries in the coal mine; we are the architects of a new reality,” Prime Minister Browne said. “Our proximity to the world’s greatest challenges is the source of our strength. We choose to build, to innovate, and to lead.”
Positioning Antigua and Barbuda as host and custodian of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), the Prime Minister outlined three essential shifts to convert ambition into action:
- Shift of Perception — Recognize SIDS as essential partners and innovation hubs, not aid recipients.
- Shift of Power and Resources — Move from temporary aid to sustainable investment, including the mainstreaming of nature-based finance that values ocean economies, mangroves, and coral reefs as investable global assets; guarantee data sovereignty so SIDS can measure and manage their own development; and advance island-led diplomacy to co-author the global agenda.
- Shift from Ideas to Implementation — Operationalize solutions through the new SIDS Centre of Excellence, a practical “action tank” to codify lived experience, scale resilience models, and design innovative financial instruments.
“ABAS is our declaration of interdependence,” Prime Minister Browne noted. “With the SIDS Centre of Excellence, we are turning evidence into policy, and policy into investable pipelines. We invite partners to invest—not in charity—but in shared prosperity and planetary security.”
The Prime Minister called on family offices and institutional investors to align portfolios with ABAS principles, bring technology and expertise to the SIDS Centre of Excellence, and champion instruments that unlock private capital for resilience, blue and green growth, and inclusive development.
“The choices made in this room will echo for generations,” he added. “Join us. Partner with us. Invest with us to build a resilient, prosperous, and equitable future—together.”
Editor’s Note: About ABAS
The Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS) is a collective framework emerging from SIDS4 to accelerate resilience, unlock sustainable investment, and strengthen sovereignty in data, finance, and diplomacy for Small Island Developing States.
