BPA Hosts Climate Action Workshop During PICL

While Climate Change is an existential threat to all global citizens, island nations are facing a more urgent crisis. Rising sea levels are beginning to submerge some atoll nations, and changes to the ocean water’s basic chemistry are impacting marine ecosystems and the coastal economies that depend on them. Sadly, those same island communities have historically been more dependent on fossil fuels than other nations. 

But we believe that the ingenuity of island communities and their desire to address the challenges they face present a pathway to solving the global climate crisis. With the goal of building on the success of our Climate Action efforts earlier this year in Guam, Palau, Dallas, New York, and Lisbon, Blue Planet Alliance will be joining Mana Pacific in presenting a special side event during the 12th Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders (PICL) in Honolulu on September 13, 2022. 

Entitled “The Road to COP27 and Beyond: A Closer Look into Progress, Challenges, and Opportunities in Transitioning to a 100% Renewable Energy Future,” this official side event will be a hybrid moderated panel discussion and interactive workshop with the audience, which will conclude with a question and answer session featuring distinguished panelists from the region. The goal of the gathering is to develop a deeper understanding of the issues and challenges surrounding each island and to share knowledge and experiences. The workshop will aim to conclude by formulating a plan to execute by the 27th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change — and well into 2023.

Blue Planet Alliance Founder & CEO Henk Rogers will provide opening remarks by reflecting on the success of Blue Planet Foundation (Blue Planet Alliance’s sister organization), which catalyzed the legislation of the 100% Renewable Energy Mandate in Hawaii, and how Blue Planet Alliance intends to scale this success in the rest of the world. 

Then, Matt Tranchin — who served in the Obama White House as National Service Liaison — will moderate a discussion, during which panelists representing Hawaii, Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia will reflect on what collective actions by Pacific Island countries and territories could be the most impactful in the next 30 days prior to COP27 in Egypt. 

After the panel, event participants will be separated into small groups and prompted to share their perspectives on regional progress, challenges, and opportunities within the group. Through discussion, the groups should then prepare specific questions for the panel to address during a closing discussion. 

Following the final Q&A session between the audience and the panel, Mana Pacific will provide closing remarks, encouraging attendees to learn more about the 100% Renewable Energy Mandate by 2045, and how the Moana Pledge Trans Pacific Agreement empowers islands with a tangible and productive initiative to meet their sustainable development goals and NDCs, maintain their island-resilience needs, and achieve energy independence. 

WHO:  Blue Planet Alliance + Mana Pacific + Pacific Island leaders   

WHAT: Climate Action Workshop during the 12th Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders (PICL)

WHERE: East-West Center, Asia Room (3rd Floor), Honolulu, HI

WHEN: September 13, 2022, 3:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. (HST)

For more information: Francois Rogers at francois@blueplanetalliance.org  

About the 12th Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders (PICL)

PICL is composed of 20 heads of government from independent Pacific Islands countries, as well as territories and the State of Hawaiʻi. PICL members include: American Sāmoa, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Hawaiʻi, Kiribati, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Republic of Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.

The Pacific Islands Development Program (PIDP) has served as the Secretariat of PICL since 1980, convening presidents, prime ministers, governors, and other heads of government that comprise PICL membership to determine the regional priorities that inform PIDP’s work toward holistic, people-centered development. The Pacific Islands Development Program (PIDP) conducts a broad range of activities to enhance the quality of life in the Pacific Islands. Based at the East-West Center in Honolulu, PIDP was formed in 1980 at the specific request of the region’s leaders to help advance their collective efforts to achieve and sustain equitable social and economic development. PIDP also serves as the Secretariat for the Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders and is a member of the Council of Regional Organisations of the Pacific (CROP).