Collective Voice Important for Pacific Island Countries

31 January 2025

Having a collective voice to show the world what is happening to us is very important in helping our people adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Those were the sentiments shared by the Minister for Internal Affairs of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Honorable Jess Gasper Jr., to the Pacific Ocean & Climate Crisis Assessment (POCCA) project team in their site re-visit to present findings back to the communities there.

Speaking on behalf of his constituency, Ejit Island, now home to Bikinians after being relocated due to the nuclear tests, Honorable Gasper acknowledged the project’s efforts in re-visiting the communities to deliver the findings.

“It is important that we have a united voice and I’m really grateful that you, the project has come back to present the findings back to my people.”

“We can feel the impact of climate change and see it as well and I’m really looking forward to the launching of the report and also to have a copy of it,” he said.

The Honorable Minister added that the report will help solidify the status of Pacific Island voices on the global stage and get the much-needed recognition.

“I’ve attended international meetings where our voices rarely get the recognition so with a report like this, it’s going to really help us in those meetings.”

“We really appreciate you coming back to our people and presenting back what you have gathered from here and also from the other communities that you have visited,” the Honorable Minister added.

Funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFAT), New Zealand, the three-year POCCA project is a collaborative effort between the Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development (PaCE-SD) through The University of the South Pacific’s, Centre for Sustainable Futures (CSF) and the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies at the University of Canterbury.