James Fletcher tells the story of the battle for the Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The former St Lucian Minister for Sustainable Development and Energy played a unique role in Paris that required switching between a number of different hats. On the one hand, St Lucia was an active member of SIDS, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and de facto head of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) negotiating group. His role involved uniting these island delegations around key demands including for a long-term temperature goal of “1.5 to stay alive” and a five-year review cycle. On the other hand, Fletcher was invited to join Fabius‘s inner circle as one of the ministerial facilitators selected to identify consensus on the most contentious elements of the Agreement during the second week of COP 21. In this capacity, he was tasked with chairing cross-cutting negotiations on ambition, and therefore with maintaining an objective and dispassionate stance while overseeing difficult talks on issues that spoke to the very survival of the constituents he represented.