At the 14th annual University of Guam Conference on Island Sustainability this April, it was all of the above and much, much more. Featuring hundreds of island sustainability scholars, practitioners, and students from across Micronesia and the world, this year’s conference shared innovations and strategies to collectively move toward a sustainable future under the theme of “Rediscover the Depths of Our Island Abundance“.

The University of Guam 14th Conference on Island Sustainability team, led by Associate Professor and Sea Grant program Director Austin Shelton. Photo credit: Laura Brewington

Conference attendees had the chance to learn more about Guam’s southern ecosystems from the Guam Restoration of Watersheds (GROW) Initiative, which is conducting essential conservation work to protect the island’s drinking water and coral reefs, and is in line with the Guam Green Growth Action Framework for sustainability. After planting over 100 trees in the Ugum Watershed to reduce erosion into the local water supply, participants toured the river below and the reef in Talo’fo’fo’ Bay.

Left: Participants planted over 100 seedlings of an acacia tree to stabilize the soil and reduce erosion in the Ugum watershed. Right: A boat trip down the Talo’fo’fo’ river provided an opportunity to see the importance of protecting southern Guam’s drinking water supplies. Photo credits: University of Guam; Laura Brewington

Farther inland at Chamorro Village, participants also visited the Circular Economy Makerspace and Innovation Hub – the first of its kind – which is supporting Guam’s emerging Green Economy by inviting craftspeople and community members to utilize the facility and training opportunities to create marketable products out of upcycled and recycled waste. Not only will the space help reduce Guam’s reliance on imported goods, it supports entrepreneurs who want to benefit the local economy in a regenerative, transformative way.

Left: Visitors learn about the Makerspace from University of Guam technicians. Right: The Precious Plastics workspace contains tools for creating new products from recycled plastics. Photo credit: Laura Brewington

“[The circular economy] concept is a win-win for our business, academia, our island’s environment, and all of Guam”

~Governor Lou Leon Guerrero

As part of the main conference events, Pacific RISA PI Laura Brewington joined three notable island experts in a panel to discuss sustainable alliances across oceans, moderated by Lieutenant Governor of Guam Josh Tenorio. Along with Kate Brown (Executive Director of the Global Island Partnership), Bob Underwood (former University of Guam President and Guam Congressional Delegate), and Kristin Wilson-Grimes (Research Assistant Professor of Watershed Ecology at the University of the Virgin Islands), PI Brewington shared examples of action being taken to build more resilient and sustainable island communities through Pacific RISA and the Pacific Regional Invasive Species and Climate Change (RISCC) management network.

PI Brewington and panelists discussing cross-ocean island alliances for sustainability. Photo credit: Trina Leberer

Didn’t have a chance to join in the celebration and exchange this year?

Save the dates for next year’s conference on April 8-12, 2024!

Meanwhile, learn more about the University of Guam Center for Island Sustainability.

Featured image: A member of the GROW Initiative looks over Ugum watershed in southern Guam. Credit: Laura Brewington

In American Sāmoa, for example, lessons learned from a devastating drought considerably lessened the impacts of a later, even more severe drought. Constant monitoring of regional climate information and a public prepared to mitigate the risks made a striking difference. Because of early warnings, Manus residents in Papua New Guinea were ready to move uphill when an extremely rare ocean swell flooded their island. In Vanuatu, a guidebook and innovative animation are translating science from climate early warning systems into useable strategies for farmers and others especially vulnerable to climate variability. In the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the health sector benefits from advance drought warnings to prevent vector- and water-borne disease outbreaks, such as the historic dengue fever outbreak in 2019. These stories and more can be found in the new Pacific Islands Climate Storybook.

The Storybook consists of two parts: the first, details an extensive Climate Services Dialog process, with draft agendas, worksheets, and templates for users who wish to hold their own dialog workshop. The Dialogs are designed to enhance scientific and technical capacity by joining climate service providers and users to build regional networks, package and disseminate climate-related information, develop new products and services, and advance training and capacity-building. The first part of the Storybook incorporates technical material, process guides, and activities that were used to conduct the Dialogs and build Climate Stories, which make up the second part. The Climate Stories are a collection of local case studies about climate change and variability-related issues, actions, and key messages obtained from the dialogs in narrative form. This approach conveys information in a way that is easy for decision-makers and stakeholders to understand and apply.

Taken together, the updated Pacific Islands Climate Storybook conveys an approach that is easy for decision-makers to understand and apply, and can serve as a model for governments and other organizations that seek to engage communities in adapting to a changing climate. With support provided through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Pacific RISA, the project was developed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) working closely with the Pacific Island Meteorological Services and numerous other partner organizations across the Pacific and beyond.

Featured image credit: Drought on Ailuk Atoll (Republic of the Marshall Islands). UN Development Programme.

Climate Change in Guam: Indicators and Considerations for Key Sectors is one in a series of new PIRCA reports. Authors from the University of Guam and the East-West Center—along with more than 30 technical contributors from local governments, NGOs, researchers, and community groups—collaboratively developed the Guam PIRCA report.

“Climate change is one of the greatest issues this generation is facing, and how we adapt as an island should be based on the best available information and sound science,” said Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero. “We are pleased to have this resource to better inform policy and decision-making, so that we may safeguard our critical infrastructure, protect our economy, improve food security, and prepare for increased droughts and wildfires. That is why I have created a Climate Change and Resiliency Commission to provide a strategy for Guam to address the impacts of climate change to our island.”

Key Messages
Climate Change in Guam lays out the changes Guam is already experiencing, as well as what lies ahead. The key messages for decision-makers include:

• Temperatures have risen in Guam, and hotter days and nights affect human health. Heat waves can exacerbate a range of pre-existing health issues, and hot weather poses a particular threat to children and elderly people.
• Stronger tropical storms and typhoons are expected globally and around Guam. More intense tropical cyclones that pack higher wind speeds and more rainfall mean a greater potential for loss of life and damage from these storms.
• Freshwater supplies are at risk. Already, droughts periodically deplete water sources in southern Guam. The combination of possible increased demand for water in hotter weather, more frequent drought, and sea level rise threaten to bring saltwater contamination into wells in northern Guam that supply drinking water.
• Sea level rise threatens infrastructure, including housing and transportation, as well as ecosystems and cultural sites. A 2019 vulnerability assessment forecast that rising sea levels will expose at least 58 percent of Guam’s infrastructure to periodic flooding during this century. Guam and other Pacific Islands will experience sea level rise higher than the global average.
• Oceans are warming, causing coral bleaching that is already widespread and severe. Extensive coral loss is possible within the next few decades if current trends in rising ocean temperatures continue. Coral reefs provide habitat for fish, coastal protection from storms, and inject hundreds of millions of dollars annually into the local economy.

About Climate Change in Guam and the PIRCA
The collective efforts of the technical contributors, coordinating authors, and PIRCA Advisory Committee made the Guam PIRCA report possible. The report builds upon the US Fourth National Climate Assessment, offering a closer look at climate change impacts in Guam and providing information for a wide range of sectors.

The Guam Climate Change Resiliency Commission, the University of Guam, the Pacific RISA, and the US Department of the Interior’s Pacific Islands Climate Adaptation Science Center (PI-CASC) jointly held a workshop in October 2019 to gather knowledge that informed the report.

The PIRCA is funded and supported by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s RISA Program (through the Pacific RISA), the East-West Center’s Research Program, the PI-CASC, and the US Global Change Research Program. In conjunction with other regional assessment efforts, the PIRCA provides guidance for decision-makers seeking to better understand how climate variability and change impact the Pacific Islands region and its peoples.

Contact Guam PIRCA authors:

Romina King, University of Guam and PI-CASC, Mangilao, GU, +1-671-735-2874

Zena Grecni, East-West Center, Honolulu, HI, +1-808-944-7242

Wendy Miles, East-West Center, Honolulu, HI, +1-808-690-7932

Victoria Keener, East-West Center, Honolulu, HI, +1-808-944-7220