President Hilda C. Heine delivered a statement at the Global Climate Adaptation Action: Shaping Resilient Futures event, hosted by the Global Center on Adaptation on the sidelines of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The high-level dialogue was co-convened with the governments of Norway and Kenya and brought together leaders from Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean, alongside global partners advancing the climate adaptation agenda.
The event aimed to reaffirm political commitment to accelerate global adaptation action, build momentum toward COP30, and elevate the voices of vulnerable countries and regions most affected by climate impacts, according to a statement on the President’s Office Facebook page. Leaders also highlighted practical solutions and partnerships to strengthen resilience in communities worldwide.
In her statement, President Heine emphasized that adaptation is the Marshall Islands’ most urgent priority, given the threats posed by rising seas, water insecurity, and increasing climate risks. She underscored the importance of ensuring that international support for adaptation is timely, accessible, and fair, while not increasing debt burdens for vulnerable states.
President Heine also highlighted the progress the Marshall Islands is making through its National Adaptation Plan, which identifies urgent needs such as coastal protection, shoreline stabilization, and improving water security for outer island communities.
She called for stronger global partnerships to deliver predictable and scaled-up financing for these efforts.
As a Board Member of the Global Center on Adaptation, President Heine reaffirmed the Marshall Islands’ support for the Global Center on Adaptation’s mission and encouraged further initiatives to ensure that small island states in the Pacific can benefit from the same scale of action being pioneered in other regions.
By participating in this dialogue, President Heine reiterated the Marshall Islands’ call for urgent and just climate action, ensuring that the priorities of small island states remain central to the global agenda as the world moves toward the global climate summit, known as COP30, at the end of this year.
President Heine also addressed the Special High-Level Event on Climate Action convened by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres at UN Headquarters in New York last week.
President Heine underscored the escalating impacts of the climate crisis and called for urgent global action.
She highlighted the existential threat faced by atoll nations like the Marshall Islands, where rising seas, extreme weather events, and saltwater intrusion are already displacing communities, destroying infrastructure, and threatening food security.
President Heine stressed that the world is not on track to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, noting that current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are insufficient to secure a safe and livable future.
She emphasized that this threshold remains the only viable pathway to protect frontline communities and safeguard fundamental human rights. President Heine recalled that, even within her first weeks of office, the Marshall Islands was forced to declare national emergencies as a result of devastating floods and droughts, a reality that underscores the urgency for decisive global action.
Despite its limited contribution to global emissions, the Marshall Islands has demonstrated leadership by submitting its third NDC in February 2024, committing to reduce emissions by at least 58 percent by 2035 compared to 2010 levels, the President said.
President Heine also emphasized that while the Marshall Islands has developed comprehensive strategies for emissions reductions, adaptation, and resilience, these plans will not be achievable without accessible and dedicated international climate finance, particularly for adaptation and loss and damage. She urged the world’s largest economies to fulfill their responsibilities by delivering stronger NDCs, phasing out dependence on fossil fuels, and supporting small island developing states in meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.
President Heine concluded with a call for renewed international cooperation, reminding leaders that while progress has been made since the Paris Agreement, the world must again come together to deliver hope and ensure a future in which all nations can survive and thrive. This Special High-Level Event on Climate Action served as a milestone on the road to COP30 in Belém, Brazil, where countries are expected to put forward more ambitious climate commitments for 2035 aligned with the 1.5 degree Celsius limit.