Haidee V. Eugenio


Little by little, children and adults in tiny Pacific islands nations which contribute less than one percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions are losing their homes, lands and their livelihoods to rising tides linked to climate change.  
 “Even the dead are no longer safe,” said Joe Konno of the Federated States of Micronesia’s National Office of Environment and Emergency Management, as he showed photos of a washed out graveyard in what used to be one of the highest atolls in Yap and other disappearing coastal areas because of higher tides, to drive home his point.
Pohnpei-based Ben Namakin, executive director of the Pacific Islands Climate Revolution, said islands nations are “paying the price” even though they contribute less than one percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
“Our very existence lies upon sea and land resources. We are still here. We can do something about it. It’s never too late,” he said, as he stressed the need to engage the youth on the issue of climate change.
Konno and Namakin were among the 73 panelists, speakers and facilitators   at the 26th Pacific Islands Environment Conference held on Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) from June 23 to 25 with the theme, “Climate of Change: Energising a Sustainable Future for Pacific Islands.” The conference was co-hosted by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the governments of CNMI (Northern Marianas), Guam and American Samoa.
Receding shorelines are a common sight in tiny Pacific islands that children could sit on the edge of their wooden porch, their feet dangling in the water, even as many parts of the world may still think that climate change is far off into the future, or worse, just a product of wild guesses.
 “Climate change is no longer a future thing. It’s already here, it’s already on our shores,” Konno said, as he urged acceptance, change in behavior, and political will to make a difference.  
“There seems to be reluctance to accepting climate change. I believe it’s about time not to wait. We have to start. We need political will,” he said.
CNMI Lt. Gov. Eloy Inos, in his welcoming remarks, said it is encouraging to see that climate change is being addressed at local, regional and international levels.  
“The long-term effects of global climate change can directly affect us in the future. We can be adversely affected by rising water levels. Our coastal areas, including this hotel, could become flooded or submerged years later. We must pay attention,” he told conference participants.
Oil dependence
But the environment conference focused not only on the causes and impacts of climate change on tiny islands nations but also the efforts done so far by islanders to adapt to rising sea levels, global warming, dependence on oil, and other environmental challenges, and what else needs to be done–hopefully with the help of bigger countries.
Gil Masters, author and emeritus professor of environmental engineering and science at Stanford University and keynote speaker at the environment conference, called for a shift in attention from a supply-side solution to a demand-side solution in dealing with the world’s dependence on cheap oil.
He said the first step in “planning for a future without much cheap oil” is setting a goal.
“Minimise dependence on imported fuel in the CNMI and other Pacific islands nations by 2030 based on efficient use of energy and renewable energy systems, and create some sort of a plan with a short-term, medium-term and long-term implication,” he said.
Masters said if crude oil reaches $200 a barrel, then one can expect to pay $7 a gallon for diesel or 40 cents per kilowatt hours of energy.  
“How do we plan the future without much cheap oil? Yes, there are lots of oil out there but can the rate by which we exploit these resources keep up with the demand?” he asked.
Renewable energy
Success stories involving energy conservation and harnessing of renewable energy such as wind and sun were also major topics at the pre-conference Energy Summit and the conference proper. On Saipan, for example, an increasing number of businesses have been using solar-powered water heaters and lighting systems and wind turbines to generate power.  
Saipan Southern High School also leads other educational facilities with the installation of solar powered system and a wind turbine. Laura Yoshii, the acting administrator of the US EPA Region 9, said islands communities can also take the lead in energy dependence and be a model for energy conservation.
 “Islands people, with some education and outreach, can understand the finite resources…Instead of paying so much for imported oil—the prices are not going to be stable, or increasing—think of ways to conserve energy and use renewable energy,” she said in an interview. Earnest Ongidobel, vice chairman of Palau’s Environmental Quality Protection Board, said in an interview that the conference also gave him more insight as to how to develop a stormwater drainage plan for Palau using a $100,00 U.S. Department of the Interior grant award.
US aid for the Pacific environment
Yoshii and US EPA Region 9 director of Air Division Deborah Jordan said Pacific islands are eligible to receive some $12 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to help them with drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.
President Obama’s proposed 2010 budget also increases the funding for water and wastewater infrastructure to the CNMI, Guam and American Samoa.
“So instead of getting $1 million, they’re getting $5 million if it gets approved by Congress. At least the president’s submittal reflects that increase,” Yoshii, the highest US EPA official at the conference, told ISLANDS BUSINESS. At the conclusion of the conference, Yoshii presented another $750,000 in Brownfields grant to the CNMI Department of Public Lands to assess and/or clean up 26 sites, including the Marpi area and a future landfill site on Tinian. This brings to $1.5 million the total Brownfields grant awarded to DPL since 2006. The previous grant award went to the cleanup of some 60 hectares of Marpi public land of unexploded World War II ordinance.
EPA officials and other environment conference participants toured the Marpi cleanup site, and witnessed the detonation of unexploded war ordnance with a total explosive weight of 1000 lbs., with Yoshii pushing the remote detonation button with the assistance of the US Navy Guam’s Explosives Ordnance Disposal Team. Another group of conference participants took hours of snorkelling on the Managaha Marine Conservation Area, a fully protected no-take area. Other islands like Palau have been working to manage coral bleaching, said Yimnang Golbuu, chief researcher at the Palau International Coral Reef Center.
Dr Peter Houk, a coral biologist who worked for the CNMI Division of Environmental Quality for many years, said maintaining healthy water and fish and reducing pollution help address climate change.
What’s still needed?
The Association of Small Islands States, of which the FSM is the lead entity, is pushing for a 45 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020, which is much higher than the 20 percent many other countries are advocating in international forums.
“The 45 percent [reduction] is what we’re fighting for,” said FSM’s Konno.
In his presentation, Konno said the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Rio has “no teeth,” and the targets set by the Kyoto Protocol are “too low.”
Dr. Cheryl Anderson of the University of Hawaii’s Social Science Research Institute said climate change data are outdated, given the time that had elapsed between peer review and publication. Climate change studies specific to the Pacific islands nations are also lacking.
Ben Machol, manager of the Clean Energy and Climate Change Office of the Environmental Protection Agency Region 9, also noted the challenge of not having a breakdown of emissions on Pacific islands in planning.
Dr John Peterson of the Micronesia Area Research Center at the University of Guam said the military buildup on Guam should also involve putting up sustainable environmental infrastructures.
Other challenges to environmental efforts abound. An example is the Micronesian Challenge which lacks funding and has yet to be fully understood by many communities that are supposed to be participating in its success. The Micronesian Challenge is a commitment shared by the governments of Palau, the CNMI, the FSM, Guam and the Marshall Islands, to conserve 30 percent of their near-shore marine resources and 20 percent of terrestrial resources by 2020.
Back to basics
Some islanders have much simpler recommendations to help protect the environment which do not include technological advances like geothermal energy, wind turbines, biodiesel, biofuel and the like.
Dr To’afa Vaiaga’e, the director of the American Samoa Environmental Protection Agency, called for a “back to basics” approach in dealing with climate change, including doing away with vehicles. “I’d like to go back to basic island lifestyles instead of worrying about those technologies because these are meant to promote products,” he said.
Another panelist, Mark Lander of the University of Guam’s Water and Environmental Research Institute, shared an experience at a previous environment meeting on Guam wherein many of the speakers and participants were driving F150 trucks and other oil guzzling vehicles, but when asked if they are wiling to give up these power machines to help save the environment, “nobody raised their hands.”
But FSM’s Konno said curtailing the use of vehicles, especially F150 trucks in island communities, will not make an impact because greenhouse gas emissions from these areas, excluding the CNMI and Guam, is only about 1 percent of the world rate.  
What will make an impact, he said, is a reduction in emissions in the United States and other major countries. In the end, it’s not a choice between simpler lifestyles and modern technology. “There should be a marriage of the two,” said Howard C Wiig, an energy expert from the Hawaii State Energy Office. –By Haidee V. Eugenio