Malta is sponsoring research to create a way of measuring how vulnerable small island states are to climate change.

Speaking at a Malta-hosted side event to the United Nations COP28 talks Dubai, Prime Minister Robert Abela said Malta is sponsoring a research project aimed at crafting a climate vulnerability and resilience index.

He said that drawing from the multidimensional vulnerability index, this bespoke tool is designed to be both scalable and universally applicable.

“In its initial phases, the project will concentrate on small island developing states. This deliberate focus is intended to underscore the pronounced vulnerability of these nations to the impact of climate change,” Abela said.

He said the deleterious impacts of climate change persist in compounding the economic and financial difficulties confronted by developing countries, further compounded by the pandemic.

The COP28 feature two days of speeches by heads of state and government in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates.