(Credit: Pixabay)US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry announced the United States' support for the Local2030 Islands Network during a virtual event in support of the Leaders Summit on Climate Change hosted by President Biden this week.
The Local2030 Islands Network is a set of major and emerging island economies from all regions of the world. Through their support, the US announced their commitment to partnering with small islands in their efforts to combat the climate crisis in ways that reflect their unique cultures and development challenges by building resilience in the face of a changing climate.
US Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm further reinforced US support to building island resilience with a focus on community-driven solutions appropriate to island-specific cultures and development challenges.
The Network, managed by Hawaii Green Growth Local2030 Hub and the Global Island Partnership, includes US islands Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Hawaii Governor David Ige joined the event to discuss the leadership of islands globally on energy and climate, and highlighted the Aloha+ Challenge, Hawaii's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework. In his remarks, Hawaii Governor David Ige encouraged island leaders and island jurisdictions to become involved in the innovative Network.
Through the Global Island Partnership, the Network will connect to existing leadership from islands around the world including the Micronesia Challenge, Caribbean Challenge Initiative, and the European BEST Challenge. The Local2030 Islands Network serves as a central resource for island-led solutions and links islands in new ways to address sustainability, climate change and clean energy issues.
The US Department of State will support this island-led partnership and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will work with the network and other partners to enhance the capacity of island nations to integrate climate data and information and also apply effective coastal and marine resource management strategies to support sustainable development. The US Department of Energy (DOE) and US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Low Emissions Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP) will provide technical assistance, and support peer learning via island communities of practice.
