Page 16 - IB August 2021

Marshall Islands Marshall Islands

MARSHALL ISLANDS

ADAPTING TO A

CHANGING WORLD

By Nic Maclellan

“Marshall Islands was always a climate leader. The responsi-
bility to raise awareness about the impact of climate change
on our islands and our livelihoods is a responsibility we own.
We have to be part of the solution and show other countries
that if we can do it, so can they.”
That’s Hilda C. Heine, the former President of the Republic
of the Marshall Islands (RMI). Dr. Heine detailed RMI’s diverse
responses to the climate emergency during a recent webinar
hosted by He Pou a Rangi, the NZ Climate Change Commis-
sion. She was joined on the webinar by her daughter Kathy
Jetnil-Kijiner, a performance poet, educator and community
activist, who also serves as a Climate Envoy for Marshall Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner
Islands. This dynamic duo has become international campaign-
ers alongside other Marshallese concerned about the long- Climate Warriors and more – using social media and traditional
term, adverse effects of global warming. culture to unite diaspora communities and home nations.
As the latest assessment report of the Intergovernmental At local level, Jetnil-Kijiner co-founded the youth group
Panel on Climate Change is released in the lead up to the next Jodrikdrik in Jipan Ene Eo Ekutok Maroro (Youth for a Greener
UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP26), Heine says it’s Environment). Through her Iep Jeltok blog and international
time for action. campaigning, she highlights the importance of youth mobilisa-
“The IPCC report presents a sense of clarity, if and where tion and art to respond to the climate emergency: “It was in
there were doubts, and it also lays a sense of urgency, espe- those spaces with other Pacific Islander youth that I was able
cially for big emitters and all of the G20 countries,” she said. to speak and use poetry to connect to the emotional core of
“It also tells us that if we act fast, it will pay off. So let’s climate change, because climate change is so much more than
stop dragging those feet and rise to the occasion. Do the right numbers and nameless faces. It is also about figuring how to
thing by ourselves, by our neighbours, by our future genera- fight, and where we can get the fire to continue to fight long
tions.” after you are exhausted.”
Heine is the first woman to serve as RMI President between In 2019, the Heine government established the Tile Til Eo
2016 and 2020, and continues as the Senator for Aur in the Committee (TTEC), co-chaired by the Minister of Environ-
RMI Nitijela (national parliament). As President, she was ment and the RMI Chief Secretary, to co-ordinate responses
active in the Smaller Island States (SIS) group – Pacific atoll to the climate emergency. This national committee includes
nations that are small in population and land area, but enor- three Working Groups, on Adaptation, Mitigation and the NDC
mous in ocean space. The SIS group has long been advocating Partnership.
for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to hold temperatures On the international stage, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner joins RMI
well below 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures. diplomat Tina Stege in New York as official climate envoys
“The window for 1.5°C is very rapidly narrowing according for the country. They follow a long tradition of international
to the IPCC report,” Heine says. “It is still there though, and advocacy by leaders such as the late ambassador Tony de
still worth fighting for. We said 1.5°C for a reason. We know it Brum, through the High Ambition Coalition, the Alliance of
gives vulnerable countries like mine the best shot at survival. Small Island States and now the Climate Vulnerable Forum and
For atoll nations, the risks are extreme – expressly for sea International Maritime Organisation.
level rise.” In December last year, RMI submitted its first official
Adaptation Communication to the United Nations, the first
Climate, culture and adaptation Small Island Developing State to do so. It highlights the work
Through work such as “History Project”, “Dear Matafele underway to develop a National Adaptation Plan as a guide for
Peinem” and “Anointed”, Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner has achieved future action.
international recognition for her poetry and performances, After creating a consultation framework, Jetnil-Kijiner says
which highlight nuclear legacies, racism and the threat of a current priority is to draw on the knowledge and diverse
climate change. perspectives of people living in the outer islands: “This frame-
Her work is part of a broader movement of youth campaigns work allows us to go to the outer islands, to meet with the
across the Pacific – PICAN, Youngsolwara, 350.org, Pacific different communities and find how climate change is actually

16 Islands Business, August 2021