Climate Variability and Change Workshop in the Republic of the Marshall Islands


Low lying islands in the Marshall islands. Source: Arielle Levine.

To better understand how climate impacts the islands, representatives from government agencies and private organizations met for two days on 12-13 April 2006 to explore changing climate conditions and their impacts. The Majuro Weather Service Office locally sponsored the workshop and helped to ensure widespread participation, with representatives from environment, health, port authority, fisheries, and media sectors.

During ENSO events, the Marshall Islands experiences different impacts depending on the strength of the event, such that it can be wetter than normal and other times it can be drier. In the strong 1997-1998 ENSO event, drought was so severe that the water rationing permitted only one hour of use every fourteen days during the worst periods. For Majuro, conservation measures are implemented even when rainfall is only 80% of normal precipitation because the airport water catchment has limited storage capacity. To meet the growing demand for fresh water, more storage needs to be developed.

The Marshall Islands may experience severe problems with water during ENSO events, but they also have the opportunity to increase revenues and improve the economy. As fish migrate to the east chasing the warm pool of water, the Marshall Islands can capture foreign fishing license fees within their exclusive economic zone.

The Marshall Islands has experience organizing interagency committees for disaster management and recognizes the importance of using interdisciplinary teams for climate risk management. One key element of their approach has been a focus on increasing public awareness about climate risks to ensure that good information reaches communities. Based on previous disaster experiences with severe drought, the disaster management plan includes measures for addressing extreme climate events and this contributes to enhancing local resilience. Using an integrated, participatory approach, the plans can be expanded to include more consideration of climate adaptation measures.