One of the world’s smallest nations is leading the fight against the biggest global challenge of our time — climate change. It’s doing this to secure its future and to protect its health today.
The Marshall Islands — an archipelago of 29 atolls in the Pacific Ocean — just became the first nation to sign onto the Kigali pact, a major international agreement aimed at limiting the emission of an extremely potent class of greenhouse gases called hydrofluorocarbons.
The country certainly has a stake in the success of the pact. Rising sea levels threaten to someday submerge the islands, which rise only a few feet above sea level. But the effects of climate change are putting the lives of its residents in danger today. A years-long drought — together with frequent ocean floods — have compromised the nation’s drinking water and made it increasingly difficult to grow food.
Source: STAT News