WILMER JOEL
Students at the College of the Marshall Islands were involved in a climate change workshop last Wednesday on the college campus.
The students were introduced to the roles of the Tile Til Eo (light the way) coordination mechanism, which has three groups that are working toward meeting the goals of the Climate Strategy 2050. The strategy offers a number of suggestions for achieving the RMI’s goals of 100 percent renewable energy and net zero emissions by 2050.
The Climate Change Directorate, which organized the workshop, had presenters that including CCD member Jane Ishiguro, CCD Director Clarence Samuel, and National Energy Office Director Angeline Heine-Reimers.
“Climate change is a man made phenomenon,” said CCD Director Samuel. “Being prepared for the future, or pepjelmae, is crucial.” For this reason, he said, a national adaptation or survival plan to address climate change was developed. In a public forum where youth from across the island voiced their worries about how climate change might affect their country’s future, he claimed that youth voices were largely the motivation for the creation of the adaptation plan.
Angeline who has worked for NEO for 15 years told participants that fuel is the mother of climate change. She claimed that each year, the government spends 1.2 million dollars on fuel for its vehicles and $4 million on electricity for its offices. She pointed out that conserving energy matters. Only three Marshallese have earned engineering degrees, according to Angeline. She emphasized to the CMI students that the RMI needs more young people to complete degrees in this area of study.
Following Angeline’s presentation, the students were split into four groups and given presentation-based topics to present.