This past December, I was grateful to be a part of a series of poem videos that were released to commemorate the 5th Anniversary of the signing of the Paris Agreement. Five years ago, I was in Paris attending COP21, performing poetry on climate change alongside other poet activists while our RMI delegation which included late Senator and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tony deBrum helped negotiate the landmark agreement. Contributing a poem felt like a needed reflection.
The series, called “Fighting for Survival” included two other poets – Fijian poet and academic Frances C Koya Vaka’uta, and Tongan musician Mia Kami. In total, there were three “chapters” of poems. “With the COP26 negotiations cancelled this year, we still want to make waves about key climate truths. Created by artists across the Pacific, this film series showcases the emotional weight of the climate crisis, the urgency of action, and the way forward.” You can read more about the series at the website platform here.
I decided for my poem that I’d focus on a recurring theme that was coming up whenever I participated in forums as Climate Envoy: the fact that we, in the Pacific, are doing the Work on climate change. This was important for me to convey – the day to day work of policy planning and implementation isn’t romantic, but it’s necessary.
There were other factors that inspired the piece: Tony for one. I didn’t start out the poem writing about him, but he found his way in anyways. Throughout the year, his name was regularly invoked – by members of our team, by consultants, by partners and other country representatives. It’s clear his legacy continues to leave a lasting impact.
The other inspiration is from the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF). Marshall Islands is one of the members of this Forum. It is “an international partnership of countries highly vulnerable to a warming planet. The Forum serves as a South-South cooperation platform for participating governments to act together to deal with global climate change.” I began to serve as their Cultural Ambassador a few months ago, and was working with our government to support their Midnight Climate Survival Initiative, which calls on all nations to deliver new and enhanced NDC’s by December 31, 2020 midnight – a survival deadline. After thinking through what I associated with the idea and image of midnight, I started playing through this metaphor.
The poem and poem video are below. I’m happy to have been able to pull in members of our actual climate team here on the ground: Kirsten Lami Maddison, Climate Coordinator, Clarence Samuel, Director for the Climate Change Directorate, Broderick Menke, National Adaptation Plan Coordinator, and Andrea Muller, Assistant Secretary for Foreign Affairs.
Watch the poem video below:
