The European Parliament adopted a declaration on the establishment of the Pact of Islands as an official European initiative.

The report recalls that islands are highly dependent on imported fossil fuels, facing higher fuel costs, but are also an opportunity for research, demonstration and development of renewable energies and energy efficiency actions. They are vulnerable to climate change because of their high levels of biodiversity and fragile ecosystems.

Members congratulate the communities and peripheral regions that have signed the Pact with the aim of going beyond the objective of the EU 2020 Strategy, reducing CO2 emissions in their respective territories by at least 20% and call on the Commission to continue providing its support to European island communities with a view to achieving the sustainability objectives of the EU.

In parallel, Members insist on the presence of distinctive and explicit references to insular sustainability in the EU framework programmes and policy texts and for incentives to be created for all islands to adhere to the Pact and participate in islands' networking.

Lastly, Parliament underlines the necessity of mobilising the appropriate financial resources to support the functioning of the Pact process, based on the model of the Covenant of Mayors, Smart Cities and other similar EU initiatives.