How the Marshall Islands’ Climate Actions Kept Covid-19 Away

Marshall Island is an atoll state lying in the Pacific Ocean.

Geographically, the country is part of the larger island group of Micronesia. The country’s population of 58,413 people (at the 2018 World Bank Census) is spread out over 29 coral atolls, comprising 1,156 individual islands and islets. The capital and largest city is Majuro (Marshall Islands, Wikipedia).

According to the article, the Island has been consistently experiencing the “devastating effects of climate change” and is fearful that each king tide or storm will inundate its shores, which have only 1.8 m or just six feet of sea-level elevation.

The article explains how the island’s bold early action against climate change has prevented COVID-19 from entering their shores.

As early as March 8, when COVID-19 spread rapidly, they banned all inbound visitors. “Bold actions come with costs; they have likened COVID-19 to climate change if tackled inadequately or too late, each can destroy life permanently”. Thus, “both require urgent and bold action on a global scale” (Nemra & Loeak, 2020).

The Marshall Islands, through HAC (High Ambition Coalition), a group of states committed to climate action, have developed an ambitious climate target for the Paris Agreement.

The article says that the Marshall Islands support the Green recovery and believe that if the stimulus package, amounting to trillions of dollars, were invested in climate solutions, it would result in long-term economic recovery and climate resilience.

The residents of the Marshall Islands know that despite all their efforts, they are at the mercy of the big emitters and the economy.

What these big emitters do will have a severe impact on these small island nations, which are already on the frontlines of climate change.

CLICK on the link below for further information on the climate actions that the Marshall Islands is doing:

PHOTO CREDIT: By Jamison Logan – ticket:2018050110004488, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link