Biz calls for vulnerability index to guide concessional finance and debt sustainability

Addressing financing and debt, Prime Minister John Viseno told the Assembly that standard metrics such as income per capita obscure exposure to climate shocks and dispersion costs.

"Income per capita does not reveal how much of an economy sits in a hurricane's spot," he said, and urged that a multi‑dimensional vulnerability index be integrated into eligibility for concessional finance and debt sustainability analysis.

Viseno argued Biz had shown debt can be reduced and conservation financed innovatively, but international capital allocation still treats vulnerability as risk rather than as an investment in resilience. He said small states should not have to 'prosecute their own case again and again' to access favorable finance.

The prime minister said making vulnerability legible in financial decisions would prevent repetitive appeal processes and better align lending institutions' decisions with real exposure and resilience needs.