The United Nations climate conference opens on November 9 in Antalya, Turkey, and runs until November 20. For small island states, every COP feels like a matter of survival, and Mauritius is no exception. According to its new nationally determined contribution, known as NDC 3.0, the country will need an additional $5.7 billion in climate finance between 2026 and 2035.
The Mauritian paradox can be summed up in a single figure. The island accounts for only around 0.01% of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it sits on the front line of their effects. Beach erosion, recurring droughts, flooding and extreme weather events now shape daily life for its people. A study by France’s Geological and Mining Research Bureau (BRGM) suggests that, under its most pessimistic scenario, sea levels could rise by as much as 1.80 metres by 2100, pushing the coastline back by more than 200 metres in some places.
Faced with these threats, several environmental experts interviewed by Port Louis daily L’Express paint a harsh picture. In their view, the problem is not a shortage of strategies or reports, but a persistent gap between stated ambitions and reality. The energy sector is the most striking example. Mauritius had set itself a target of 35% renewable electricity by 2025. The final figure stalled at 17.8%, and coal still accounts for a significant share of the country’s energy imports. Over the same period, emissions rose by 3.4% in 2025 to reach nearly 6.8 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, three quarters of which came from energy production.
Water is just as worrying. Around 60% of the water carried through the network is lost through ageing pipes, a level of waste that is hard to sustain on an island regularly short of rain. Specialists are calling for pipe rehabilitation, watershed protection, reforestation and the reuse of treated wastewater.
Biodiversity is paying a heavy price too. While forest cover stands at around 22.5% of the territory, good quality native forest makes up only a tiny fraction, roughly 2%. Dozens of local plant species have already disappeared, and many plants endemic to the Mascarene Islands now face extinction.
Then comes the thorny question of money. Having become too developed to qualify for traditional grants, Mauritius now has to win over international lenders by other means. Experts believe the country has never made full use of its status as a small island developing state, despite support from the French Development Agency and the creation of a climate finance unit within the Prime Minister’s Office. They also point to a serious lack of staff in government ministries to design and oversee projects. In Antalya, they want the Mauritian delegation to secure predictable funding in the form of grants or concessional loans, rather than fresh debt. As one of them put it, “climate promises fill neither reservoirs nor beaches.”
On the ground, the recommendations are many: setting a legal timetable to phase out coal, making solar power accessible to all, prioritising the restoration of dunes, coral reefs and wetlands over concrete sea walls, and holding a national consultation on the future of the coastline. The private sector is also being called to account. Property developers and hotel groups are urged to stop building on the most exposed areas and to help fund adaptation efforts.
The global backdrop offers little cause for optimism. According to the UN, current national pledges put the planet on course for around 2.6°C of warming. For Mauritius, COP31 will therefore be judged on one simple test: its ability to turn announcements into funding that is actually disbursed and into measurable action.