Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 36, Number 10, 1 October 2019 — Marshall Island President to visit Hawai'i to discuss climate crisis [ARTICLE]

Marshall Island President to visit Hawai'i to discuss climate crisis

As the leader of an atoll nation on the front lines of the climate crisis, Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine is working to fight elimate change before her home-land becomes uninhabitable. As the first female head of state of any independent Pacific Island nation, President Heine serves as a global role model

for women in leadership with an overarching goal of encouraging a diversity of global stakeholders to invest in climate action. On October 31, President Heine will address the largest multicultural and multi-disciplinary gathering of diverse STEM students, professionals, and leaders in Hawai'i at the 2019 National Diversity in STEM Conference. "As one of only four atoll nations in the world, climate change is already a reality for us. The question now is whether the world ean summon the leadership to urgently increase its ambition to get us on a pathway consistent with the Paris Agreement and to avoid the worst impacts yet to eome. That's why I am so committed to convening as many stakeholders as possible — especially women champions, leaders of color, and diverse STEM students and professionals — with a shared desire to protect our eommon vital resources. Together, we ean fight climate change, not only with access to funding and technology, but also harnessing the power of traditional and loeal knowledge," said President Heine. President Heine's keynote address to the 2019 National Diversity in STEM Conference produced by the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) will eall on others — from heads of states to everyday citizens, especially women and communities of color that are first and worst impacted by the impacts of climate change - to join her and stand united in helping solve our world's biggest challenge. As the Convener of the High Ambition Coalition and the Chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum, the Marshall Islands is leading the global effort for governments around the world to follow their lead in increasing their Paris Agreement before 2020. The Marshall Islands also recently published a landmark 2050 Climate Strategy charting a way to net-zero emissions and is currently developing a National Adaptation Strategy. ■