John Kerry, Indigenous Leaders Mark Climate Week by Urging Protection of the Pacific Remote Islands
Patagonia, the outdoor apparel company, hosted the event, “A Night with Intergenerational Storytellers,” on ocean protection and the Pacific Remote Islands at its retail store in SoHo during Climate Week NYC.
New York, NY — During a Climate Week event hosted by Patagonia on Monday evening, Indigenous elders, young ocean leaders, Pacific Island educators, and ocean-climate policy experts called on the Biden Administration to act on the President’s commitment to the Pacific Remote Islands (PRI), honoring Pacific Islanders’ heritage and creating the world’s largest highly protected marine area. The action would meet the America the Beautiful initiative’s goal to protect 30 percent of U.S. marine waters by 2030 (30×30). In a video address released at the event, former US Secretary of State and Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry, via video remarks, expressed support for full protection of the Pacific Remote Islands, advancing the U.S. commitment to protect 30 percent of marine waters.
“The Pacific Remote Islands are among the world’s last wild, healthy ocean ecosystems,” said Kerry. “They hold an immense natural and cultural heritage, which now is even more vulnerable in the face of the climate crisis. Now is the moment to protect this special place to the fullest extent and to create the world’s largest, highly protected marine area.”
At Monday night’s event, a panel of speakers shared stories urging ocean protection and its connection across communities. Along with Kerry’s video address, speakers included Bodhi Pati, UN-recognized, award-winning Gen Z ocean-climate “Solutionist;” Sabrina Suluai-Mahuka, the first American Samoan to win the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators from the US EPA for Region 9 and South Pacific Academy Principal; Solomon Kahoʻohalahala, member of the Pacific Remote Islands Coalition, a seventh-generation Native Hawaiian descendant, kupaʻāina, from the island of Lāna’i; and Lauren Swaddell, senior associate at The Pew Charitable Trusts, PRI Coalition member and CHamoru from Guam.
Last year, to further ensure protection of these fragile areas, President Biden directed action on the Pacific Remote Islands Coalition’s request to designate the region as a national marine sanctuary, further expanding protections to 777,000 square miles.
The Pacific Remote Islands are located in the central Pacific and are home to resilient coral reef ecosystems, including threatened and endangered wildlife of global conservation importance, such as seabirds, sharks, rays, sperm and blue whales, the leatherback sea turtle and deep-sea life found nowhere else on Earth.
The Pacific Remote Islands, in particular, have long held significance for Native Pacific Islanders’ cross-oceanic migration, voyaging, and cultural practice and depend on healthy ecosystems with intact biological indicators. The islands and atolls hold deep historical significance for Marshallese, Hawaiians, CHamorus, and other Pacific Islanders.
“Our Kumulipo ties us to the ocean: where all life began,” said Solomon Kahoʻohalahala. Speaking of the origin story and genealogy of Native Hawaiians, he says, “The Pacific Remote Islands are a source of our creation. We must care for – not extract – the places that hold our ancestral connections.”
President Biden has demonstrated one of the strongest climate records of any U.S. president and initiated administrative action to fully protect the Pacific Remote Islands. At the request of the Coalition, the administration further led a renaming process, which gathered input from more than 16 nations, republics, commonwealths, states, territories, and countries across Oceania, to rename the area to one that recognizes the pre-colonization and heritage of Pacific Peoples in the region. Leaders from the PRI Coalition are encouraging the Biden Administration to meet his America the Beautiful 30×30 goal by expanding protections for the area and engaging in a collaborative process to design a co-management plan inclusive of Indigenous Pacific Islanders.
“Co-management is a pathway for shared stewardship with Indigenous communities,” said Lauren Swaddell. “It’s time for us to chart a new path, one in which Pacific Islanders from the U.S. territories are not only respected and listened to but at the decision-making table.”
Community leaders expressed urgency in action to protect the ocean in the face of climate change and for the sake of future generations. “As Pasifika leaders, we understand that the protection of our oceans and the rich natural and cultural heritage of places like American Samoa can no longer be left for future generations to solve. We – are the leaders we’ve been waiting for,” says Sabrina Suluai-Mahuka. “The time to act is now because our youth deserve a future where their connection to the land and ocean is not just remembered, but preserved. I refuse to leave this burden to my daughter, to fix what should have been protected by my generation and those before us.”
Photos of the event can be found here and the video message from Secretary Kerry can be found here.
Please reach out to pricoalition@spitfirestrategies.com with questions.
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About the Pacific Remote Islands Coalition
Since 2014, the Pacific Remote Islands Coalition has worked to protect the cultural, natural and historical legacy of these special islands, atolls and reefs. Given the area’s important ecological and cultural value, we are urging the Biden administration to fully expand protections for the Pacific Remote Islands. Our diverse network includes elders, fishers, educators, cultural practitioners, nonprofits, community groups, and scientists across the Pacific Islands and beyond. We are a coalition brought together by a love for the ocean that connects and sustains us. Learn more at www.protectpri.com.