THE CLEAN DOZEN
From left: Kyle Mandapat (Emcee), University of Guam (UOG) President Anita Borja Enriquez, Marshall Islands H.E. President Hilda C. Heine, BPA Executive Director Francois Rogers, Guam Governor Honorable Lou Leon Guerrero, and Director of UOG’s Center of Island Sustainability Dr. Austin Shelton.
This past week, the Republic of Marshall Islands (RMI) signed a Blue Planet Climate Agreement, a document declaring its intention to commit itself on the path to a 100% renewable-energy future.
With the signature of the President of RMI, Her Excellency Hilda C. Heine, RMI becomes the 12th Small Island Developing State (SIDS) country or territory to sign such a document, officially joining our nonprofit Alliance and a growing movement to demonstrate to the world that a future of carbon-free fuel is indeed possible.
Previously, BPA had signed agreements with the Kingdom of Tonga and the Government of Tuvalu at COP27 in Egypt in 2022; Guam in April 2023; Palau and Curacao at COP28 in Dubai in 2023; the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) in a special ceremony in that territory in 2024; Dominica, Grenada, and Vanuatu at the Blue Planet Alliance Fellowship’s second cohort in Hawaii in 2024; and Antigua and Barbuda and St. Kitts and Nevis at the BPA Fellowship’s third cohort in Hawaii in 2024.
The UN’s IPCC report’s sixth assessment — a document synthesizing thousands of peer-reviewed scientific studies, papers, and reports related to climate — makes clear that the continued use of dirty energy is a dangerous threat to the continued livability of our planet, and that we must cease both the extraction and use of fossil fuels and their greenhouse gas emissions or face potentially irreversible negative consequences. We have seen such consequences increase over the past year, the hottest year on record, replete with generational heat waves, floods, wildfires, and other unpredictable, extreme weather events.
Limiting average global temperature rise to 1.5 or even 2 degrees Celsius is a ubiquitous talking point at UN climate conferences, diplomatic circles, and civil society demonstrations. But though much discussed, there have been few commitments to eliminating the use of such carbon-based fuels.
Blue Planet Alliance — led by Henk Rogers, visionary and advocate for climate action — is paving such a path forward. BPA is growing a global movement aimed at reducing the negative impact of fossil-fuel emissions on the planet, and enlisting a holistic approach that, island per island (and later country by country), unites governments, businesses, utilities, and individuals in the fight and helps them, together, create and develop unique renewable solutions tailored specifically to their own island’s needs.
BPA catalyzes climate ambition through policy work, community-based solutions, and youth-led advocacy. The organization builds on the pivotal climate change policies and initiatives of its sister organization, Blue Planet Foundation, which helped successfully navigate and pass the nation’s first 100% renewable-energy law, requiring the State of Hawaii to commit to 100% renewable energy by 2045. More than 20 other U.S. states have since followed suit with their own versions of that commitment to clean energy or net-zero emissions.
“Today, in the face of climate change and rising sea levels, our nation is not merely trying to survive — we are working hard to be sustainable,” said President Heine. “We are working hard today so that future generations may thrive. When we lose our land, we risk losing our lineage, our history, and the social structures that hold our communities together. It puts at risk both our tangible and intangible heritage, our sacred sites, our oral histories, and the traditional knowledge and materials that define who we are.”
“We have no time to waste,” added Rogers, founder of BPA. “The clock is ticking on implementing real solutions to our planetary polycrisis. And foremost among them is the threat posed by the continued use of carbon-based fuels. But too many succumb to the assumption that eliminating fossil fuels is too hard or even impossible. We demonstrated in our work in Hawaii that not only is it necessary, but that, importantly, it is quite possible. Here in the Northern Pacific, we recognize that islands are the least responsible for and most vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change. That’s why we are thrilled and inspired that the Marshall Islands is joining our Alliance, and helping us spread the 100% renewable-energy message to others.”
RMI will now take part in the fifth cohort of BPA’s Fellowship Program in October 2025. The Fellowship Program brings representatives from 10 islands to Hawaii for a week-long workshop and interactive lecture series featuring the very experts who led the landmark legislation that became Hawaiian law, making Hawaii the first U.S. state to legislatively mandate a transition to 100% renewable energy.
Those experts have included former Governor David Ige, who signed the bill into law in 2015; Hawaiian State Senator Chris Lee, who authored the bill; Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority Executive Director Gwen Yamamoto Lau, whose office is navigating new ways for all consumers to implement renewable solutions, such as rooftop solar; HEI utility President and CEO Scott Seu; and more than 20 other speakers.
Our fourth cohort will visit Hawaii next month, and matriculate another 10 islands.
BPA encourages all island nations and large countries to make the commitment to reach the goal of 100% renewable energy by 2045, by working with businesses, governments, and leaders alike. In order to bring this dire change to fruition, both BPA and the individual island nations are calling for funds from corporations and their country’s leadership.
