Small Island Developing State makes massive commitment
Palau is a Small Island Developing State in the Pacific Ocean, with a population of less than 20,000.
But when it comes to the global climate crisis, this archipelagic country of 300+ islands is demonstrating leadership more befitting of a giant G7 nation, one that — again and again — is setting an example for other nations to emulate.
Just this past month, for example, Palau hosted two key events that could offer long-lasting solutions to some of our most troubling global challenges.
On April 13th & 14th, Palau became the first small island developing state (SIDS) nation to host the Our Ocean conference, an annual convening of the top minds and voices worldwide on marine preservation and ocean health. This year, the conference was co-hosted by Republic of Palau President Surangel Whipps, Jr., and U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, and featured in-person or video appearances from such current and former heads of state as French President Emmanuel Macron, Federated States of Micronesia President David Panuelo, and former U.S. President Barack Obama. The conference, now in its seventh year, has become a showcase for commitments to protecting global ocean systems, and this year the conference closed with 410 new commitments, with a collective value of $16.35 billion USD.
And on April 15th, Palau was the site of a Planet Home EcoSprint, a day-long intensive, solutions-oriented workshop co-hosted by Blue Planet Alliance and Planet Home, designed to help Palau pave a path forward to a 100% renewable energy grid by 2045.
Blue Planet Alliance Founder Henk Rogers opens the 2022 Palau EcoSprint.
The 100 Renewable Energy EcoSprints — co-designed by Blue Planet Alliance and Planet Home — gather key stakeholders from an island’s public and private sectors, along with critical and informed voices from civil society, academia, and youth. These essential thought leaders are then guided in exercises by expert “Solutionists,” designed to help them build and achieve a “mandate-first approach” to reaching 100% renewable energy, tailored specifically to their island.
Stunning Announcement
The Republic of Palau’s President, Surangel Whipps, Jr., took part in both events last month, and after the week’s high-level conferences concluded, President Whipps made a stunning announcement: he pledged that Palau would transition to 100% renewable energy by 2032 — even more quickly than the EcoSprint hosts had hoped.
Whipps reaffirmed his pledge this week in his State of the Republic address. The mechanics of the pledge still need to be drafted (and passed) by the Palau legislature, but the message is resoundingly clear: though larger, industrial countries aren’t doing enough to protect the planet from the devastation of the climate crisis, Palau has drawn a line in its beautiful sand.
This announcement by Palau is the exact result hoped for by the EcoSprint organizers. Blue Planet Alliance is the sister organization of Blue Planet Foundation, the NGO that played a critical role in helping the State of Hawaii pass a legislative mandate ensuring that 100% of the State’s electricity would be powered by renewable energy by 2045, Blue Planet Alliance is now taking that template and, with the help of Planet Home — the world’s largest Solutionist platform — looking to replicate that model in islands and countries around the world.
Now that Hawaii, 14 other U.S. States, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. have signed either laws or orders mandating either 100% renewable energy or clean energy, Blue Planet Alliance and Planet Home are working with other islands to help them facilitate the transition.
Many more EcoSprints are planned — first for Small Island Developing States, and ultimately for all countries around the world. And as each new island or country makes their commitment to forgoing fossil fuels and transitioning to a clean energy grid, the planet gets that much more sustainable, and our future becomes brighter.
