Follow us on:

Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube

Domestic

Islanders are children of the ocean and share the same challenges, says former President Michel |19 June 2021

Islanders are children of the ocean and they all share the same challenges, same fate and the same destiny, former President James Michel has said.

He was speaking to oceanographer and physicist Helen Czerski in one of the ‘Ocean Matters’ programmes run by The Bertarelli Foundation.

“As islanders we are all children of the ocean. We all share the same challenges, same fate and the same destiny. But the essence is for leaders to have the political will to be bold, to make bold decisions. Yes it has been a struggle but it is not over. The movement is gathering momentum. More governments are taking action. They are pledging to meet the Paris Commitments. However, they must honour these commitments. But there is hope. I believe in humanity,” said Mr Michel who is also the founder of the James Michel Foundation.

In this particular programme, Ms Czerski tried to explore the small, remote islands ‒ distant specks of land that are dwarfed by the vast ocean around them.

She wanted to know how do they form? What makes both the islands and their inhabitants so distinctive? And why are they disappearing?

In each programme, she meets scientists ‒ Dr Ines Lange and Professor Chris Perry from the University of Exeter, and Professor Carl Jones from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust ‒ who are working to save our ocean and marine life in the most remote parts of our planet.

Her programmes help us explore how the cutting-edge marine science research that is going on in many places is helping to protect species across the world, and better understand what needs to be done to save our seas.

 

Gerard Govinden

More news