“We will not go silently to our watery graves”: How to save a nation from drowning
The Marshall Islands, a nation of low-lying atolls threatened by rising sea levels, is facing an existential crisis. Yet, amidst this adversity, the Marshallese people are not only adapting to climate change but also charting a path for survival. Drawing inspiration from their rich maritime heritage, the Marshall Islands have developed a groundbreaking National Adaptation Plan for Survival (NAP). This plan, unveiled at COP28, outlines a comprehensive strategy for addressing the climate crisis over the next century.
nhabiting 34 islands and atolls scattered across approximately 470,000 km2 in the Pacific Ocean, with distances ranging from dozens to hundreds of kilometers between them, the Marshallese people have demonstrated exceptional navigational skills for centuries.
The ancient navigation techniques of the Marshall Islands were guided by stick charts — traditional artifacts crafted from coconut and palm strips, bent and tied together to create a complex lattice structure. At first glance, these charts may seem unintelligible to the modern eye, yet they hold a wealth of information about ocean currents, wave and wind patterns, and the marked locations of atolls and islands, providing potential navigation routes.
Stick charts were actually quite delicate objects and, therefore, not suitable to be transported during journeys at sea. The Marshallese people would then navigate based on information memorized through the stick charts, but then, once at sea, strongly relied on a more experiential way of knowing the sea. Marshallese navigators would lie prone in their canoes to sense the waves and ocean swells: Relying solely on the feeling of the ocean, they could precisely read the sea by feel and sight, determining their direction, the nearest land, and the desired path.
The climate crisis has profoundly troubled the waters surrounding the Marshall Islands, placing it, like many other ocean island nations, at the forefront of the impacts of the climate crisis. Recognizing this, the Marshallese people are integrating their traditional knowledge with the best available science-based data and guidance to navigate the challenges.
Much like the traditional stick charts, the new National Adaptation Plan for climate unveiled by the island nation at the close of COP28 in Dubai sets crucial benchmarks and delineates the roadmap from the current period until 2150. This marks the point when the nation is anticipated to face complete submersion by the ocean unless the current climate route is not reversed.
Situated in the heart of the Pacific Ocean, midway between Hawaii, Japan, and Australia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands comprises 29 atolls and five individual islands. The nation’s primary industries are subsistence agriculture, fishing, and tourism.
Characterized by low land elevations averaging two meters above sea level, Marshall Islands face heightened vulnerability to climate change impacts, particularly sea-level rise. This vulnerability poses significant implications for the population in the whole country, impacting on the economy, increasing unemployment rates, and population relocations or migrations to cope with the crisis.
The RMI’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP) assesses the main climate impacts, risks, and vulnerabilities on all aspects of life in the republic, including the economic sector, social issues, and natural resources. This assessment is of a holistic type, based on both “science-based measures as well as the lived experiences of climate impacts by people and communities, […] equally important to maximize meaningful adaptation opportunities”.
For instance, the NAP includes a survey conducted among nearly 900 people from different atolls and islands of the Republic. The findings underscore that the most commonly observed manifestations of climate change by communities are rising sea levels and warmer temperatures, followed by challenges related to drought and erratic rainfall. Moreover, the most frequently cited impacts of climate change are felt in livelihoods, with issues like increasing heat and soil salinization affecting productive activities and agriculture. Additional identified vulnerabilities encompass concerns about food and water security, effects on critical infrastructure (such as power supply, transportation, and communication), and implications for the health system.
Moreover, human rights organizations have expressed serious concerns, corroborated by community impressions surveys, regarding the escalating risks of climate change’s impacts on social life, particularly for women and vulnerable populations. In particular, climate change is disrupting the economy, driving up unemployment rates, and forcing relocations to higher ground or emigration to other countries.
According to the UNDP Climate Change Adaptation Portal, “the capacity of the Marshall Islands to adapt to the effects of climate and sea-level change will largely be determined by its ability to address ongoing environmental, social and economic problems.” Therefore, adaptation to climate change should involve targeted activities aimed at specific sectors that are experiencing the impacts of climate change, general policies and actions by the government to address social factors that contribute to vulnerability to climate change, and actions to enhance the capacity of the Marshall Islands to implement effective adaptation measures.
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