Asia-Pacific, Climate Change, Migration Watch Now: The Art of Climate Resilience with Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner

Acclaimed Marshallese activist and artist Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner featured in the final event of our 2022 Global Shifts Colloquium, 'Islands on the Climate Front Line: Risk and Resilience.'

Jetn̄il-Kijiner is renowned for writing and performing poetry that raises awareness of her people, their way of life, and now, their plight. At approximately seven feet above sea level at its highest point, her country - the Republic of the Marshall Islands – is one of the world's most vulnerable to climate change. A Climate Envoy for the Marshall Islands Ministry of Environment, Jetn̄il-Kijiner's art speaks to the resilience, needs, and demands of the Marshallese. In a piece written for her infant daughter, "Dear Matafele Peinem," she asserts, “We deserve to do more than just survive. We deserve to thrive.”

Watch this conversation with renowned environmentalist Bill McKibben that gets to the heart of Jetn̄il-Kijiner's poetry – a culture born from and tied to an ocean that may very soon drown it; and a people who do not want to leave their home. How will the Marshallese face down an existential threat of sea level rise? What role can art and poetry play in this fight? Can culture be the force that keeps a people together, even if their lands are lost?