Seychelles - Country Climate and Development Report : Executive Summary

Overview & Synopsis

The Seychelles Country Climate and Development Report (CCDR) provides analysis and recommendations on how Seychelles can achieve sustained development while responding to climate change. As the continent’s only high-income country, Seychelles is a success story in Africa. But as a small island developing state (SIDS) of 122,000 people scattered across several islands in the Indian Ocean, it is also highly exposed to shocks, including increased climate variability and change. Despite these structural challenges, Seychelles has high ambitions to climb the ranks among high-income countries, leveraging a balanced approach between economic development and environmental stewardship. Achieving these goals will require a more diversified, productive, and inclusive economy. This report finds that adapting to a changing climate offers opportunities to boost growth, jobs, and development outcomes, while also reducing climate risks and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, grasping these opportunities will require actions to address rising sea levels, increasing temperatures, and more frequent storms, which threaten tourism and fisheries, the two central pillars of the economy, as well as 90 percent of the population and key infrastructure concentrated in coastal areas. This CCDR analyzes how Seychelles can achieve its development ambitions while strengthening climate resilience and ensuring sustainability. Chapter 1 provides background on how development, structural vulnerabilities, and climate interact in Seychelles. Chapter 2 provides an overview of Seychelles’ climate change commitments, current policies, and institutional gaps. Chapter 3 provides policy recommendations and investment needs for six areas of the economy: tourism, ocean economy, energy, infrastructure, water and agriculture, and human capital, crucial to achieve resilient and sustainable development. Chapter 4 assesses the macroeconomic and distributional impacts of three modeled pathways of development and climate action. Chapter 5 outlines options for mobilizing financing. Chapter 6 concludes with priority actions and recommendations on a path forward.