"...our island is who we are."

September 25, 2013 @ Columbia University in New York City

"In ways that the English language can not fully convey, our island is who we are. It is not just our culture, but our personal identity."
- His Excellency Christopher Jorebon Loeak, President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands

"[Migration] is an admittance of defeat, before we are actually defeated... To move us from our home is tantamount to asking us to eliminate a society from the face of the Earth. We're talking about the elimination of language, a way of life..."
- Honorable Tony deBrum, Minister-in-Assistance of the Republic of the Marshall Islands

Intro to 2014

It is 2014, nearly 1 year after my last post. What a difference a year can make!

I am grateful for the opportunity to study this year with top climate researchers at Columbia University. Among many things, this is an opportunity to visit our embassy at the U.N. Mission and I look forward to that especially. Meanwhile, H.E. President Christopher J. Loeak and his delegation have already made their mark in the Big Apple... the subject of my next post.

Case study of Rita Reimaanlok

Western representations of "disappearing island nations" are often characterized by unhelpful alarmism and assumptions of inevitable resettlement. In recent years, climate vulnerability researchers in the Marshall Islands have devised communication strategies that present their findings while avoiding the negative connotations. In the community of Rita the residents have enacted an ambitious climate change resilience program to demonstrate the necessity and feasibility of culturally sensitive, community-based approaches to meeting the environmental challenges of the 21st century.