The Marshall Islands is one of the most vulnerable nations to climate change and we cannot wait for international agreements, said Phillip Muller, this low-lying atoll nation’s ambassador to the United Nations.
Since Monday, Muller and a team of staff members from the U.N. mission have been meeting with dozens of Marshall Islands government and non-government organization leaders in Majuro, the nation’s capital, to produce a roadmap to help the country begin accessing funding pledged by international donors.
Muller said donors are offering help to combat sea level rise but the Marshall Islands, despite its geography making it vulnerable to even slight weather and sea level changes, has not had a coherent plan for responding.
Donors need to see a plan that has the political support of our leadership behind it, Muller said.
Muller said that as a result of the global meeting on climate change in Copenhagen last December, countries of the world have pledged $45 billion for work to combat climate change and sea level rise. But very little of this money has actually flowed to the Marshall Islands and other developing nations that need it, Muller said.
Our concern is that this is a wonderful opportunity with a very limited window of time, Muller said. Most donors have made the funds available only for two-to-three years. We’re running against time and competing with other countries.
The workshop in Majuro is establishing an action plan to guide the Marshall Islands’ response to climate change. Muller’s hope is that this will in turn lead to a list of fundable projects that can be put out to donors to begin bringing needed climate change mitigation funds to the Marshall Islands.
Related to this national effort is the U.N. Mission’s work to establish a process streamlining access to climate change aid.
We put out a proposal that has now been accepted by many countries, he said. It will help speed the release of funds.
One prong of the U.N. effort is to create a website that will be a central source for developing nations to promote projects for which they are seeking climate change donor funding. It will help donors identify projects they are interested in funding, he said.
The problem is that the existing climate change aid programs — including the World Bank, the Global Environment Fund, and others — have complex procedures and reporting requirements making it virtually impossible for small countries to access funding, Muller said.
The aim of this new effort is to help match individual donors with projects because bilateral aid projects have a record of success, he said.
The U.N. proposal has gained a lot of steam, Muller said, adding The Netherlands is chairing the effort.
Muller’s goal is to have a series of Marshall Islands climate change response projects that can be put out to the donor community by the end of August. I’m very enthusiastic, Muller said. I believe we will begin seeing results soon.
