Marshall Islands in climate first

THE MARSHALL Islands in the Pacific Ocean became the first nation yesterday to ratify a 2016 accord to cut the use of powerful factory-made greenhouse gases, saying the survival of the nation was at risk from climate change.

The parliament of the Marshall Islands, with a population of 53 000 vulnerable to rising sea levels caused by melting ice, approved the plan to curb use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that are used in refrigerants and air conditioning.

The decision is a sign of continuing action to limit global warming despite uncertainty about future US climate policies under President Donald Trump, who has expressed doubts that man-made greenhouse gases stoke warming.

“My country will not survive without urgent action to cut emissions by every country and every sector of our economies, including HFCs,” said Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine.

“This deal is good for our people, the planet, and the profits of those that follow in our footsteps,” she said in a statement, which said the country was the first to ratify the HFC agreement worked out in Kigali, Rwanda, in October.

The Kigali pact, agreed by almost 200 nations including the US, will scale down the use of HFCs, which can be 10 000 times more powerful than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere. The Marshall Islands was also the first to ratify the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

Andrew Light, of the US-based World Resources Institute think tank, said American companies such as Honeywell and DuPont had already developed new chemicals that are less environmentally harmful than HFCs, adding it “made sence” for the US.