Palau’s Air Pollution and Climate Change
What is air pollution? What is climate change?
Air pollution is the “contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical, physical, or biological agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere.”19 Air pollution can have many different causes, including but not limited to: combustion, transportation, factories, fires, and power plants.19 Some examples of air pollutants include particulate matter, carbon dioxide, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and sulfur dioxide.19 Watch this video to learn more about air pollution.
The burning of fossil fuels is a very common form of polluting the atmosphere. Humans burn fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas, as a means of creating energy.8 Fossil fuels are decomposed animal and plant matter that have been compressed and heated underground into rock formations.8 Because they are organic, they contain elements like carbon and hydrogen, which, when burned, are released into the atmosphere as gasses like carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gasses.17 These gasses are commonly referred to as greenhouse gasses, as they trap heat in the Earth’s atmosphere.8
Greenhouse gasses are the primary cause of climate change, which is the long-term changes in temperature and weather patterns.16 After the sun’s radiation reflects off the Earth’s surface as heat, it is then trapped in the atmosphere by the greenhouse gasses.16 So, the more greenhouse gasses present, the more heat there is trapped. (See Figure 1.) This leads to a global increase in temperatures, shifting weather patterns, warming ocean temperatures, and melting land ice.5
So, what are air pollution and climate change like in Palau?
Climate change is a major problem for Palau, because it’s a country of hundreds of islands, each of which have their own coastlines and marine ecosystems, making it very vulnerable to rising sea levels, ocean warming, and intensified weather.3 Rising sea levels pose a threat to a majority of Palau’s population which lives on coastlines of islands, as well as Palauan infrastructure and cultural sites.3 Already, over 25% of Palau’s landmass sits only under 10 meters above sea level.1 Ocean warming poses a threat to Palau’s coral reefs, as temperature changes cause coral to reject the algae living inside it, turning the coral completely white.6 Finally, intensified weather patterns mean an increase in tropical cyclones, storm surges, drought, and other storm activity, which all also pose a threat to Palauans.3 Palau’s current president, Surangel Whipps Jr., summarized the danger that climate change poses Palau at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, saying that Palauans “see the scorching sun is giving [them] intolerable heat, the warming sea is invading [them], the strong winds are blowing [them] every which way, [their] resources are disappearing before [their] eyes and [their] future is being robbed from [them].”4 Watch this to hear more of what President Strangle Whipps Jr. has to say about climate change in Palau.
Palau’s primary greenhouse gas emission is carbon dioxide.1 As of 2021, a grand total of 11 million tons of carbon dioxide have been released by Palau since 1751.15 Then, 238, 444 more tons of carbon dioxide were emitted in 2022.13 This is due foremost to Palau’s remote location necessitating that air travel be used if any travel or trade occurs between Palau and any other countries.1 As you can see in figure 2, the main industry that greenhouse gasses are released from by Palau is transport.14 This makes sense, considering that Palau is a major tourist destination and 85-90% of the country’s food is imported.1
Palau’s secondary greenhouse gas emission is methane.14 As you can see in figure 3, as of 2022, 19,350 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent methane has been emitted by Palau since 1751.4 Most of these emissions stem from Palau’s poor waste management.4 This is because when biodegradable waste decomposes in anaerobic conditions in a landfill, methane is released.4
Who are the stakeholders?
An environmental stakeholder is “a person with an interest or concern in environmental activities.”7 It is important to identify stakeholders when addressing an environmental problem, because they are the institutions, people, agencies, or organizations that can affect (and are affected by) the problem. In the case of Palau, we must consider those who have a stake in climate change, carbon dioxide emissions, and methane emissions. For climate change, significant stakeholders are: the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (a partner of Palau since 2022), Palauan citizens (especially those living on coasts who are directly affected by rising sea levels and intense weather), Palau’s Bureau of Cultural and Historical Preservation11 (which aims to protect important sites and would also therefore be impacted by rising sea levels), and Palau’s Ministry of Public Infrastructure and Industries (as infrastructure is both affected by and has the potential to adapt to negative impacts of climate change in Palau). For carbon emissions, significant stakeholders are: tourists (as curbing travel in any way would prevent them from coming to Palau), Palau’s Bureau of Tourism2 (as they would potentially lose business if travel were more regulated), Palauan restaurants (which would be impacted if food production became local instead of imported), and international airlines (as they could also potentially lose business if travel to Palau were to become regulated). For methane emissions, significant stakeholders are Palau’s Ministry of Public Infrastructure and Industries (as it is responsible for planning any changes to Palau’s waste management facilities), Palau’s Solid Waste Management Office (which is responsible for planning any changes to Palau’s waste management operations), Palau’s Environmental Quality Protection Board (which enforces regulations on solid waste), and Palau’s national landfill, M-Dock, which is located in Koror (as it is currently the only widely used waste management site in Palau.18
What are the solutions?
A major, successful, sustainable solution to Palau’s climate change problem is the Palau Climate Change Policy and Action Plan for Climate and Disaster Resilient Low Emissions Development. The policy and action plan were created in 2015 by Palau’s government in collaboration with the Climate and Clean Air Coalition to encourage low carbon emission development, maximize energy efficiency, protect carbon sinks, and minimize greenhouse gas emissions.4 In addition to these types of mitigation, they also aim to enhance Palau’s adaptation and resilience to the impacts of climate change by managing disasters and minimizing disaster risk by developing emergency evacuation plans, promoting disaster risk insurance programs, making more resilient building codes, and more.4 The policy and action plan established the government of Palau’s commitment to financing such environmental priorities in order to support “happy, healthy, sustainable and resilient Palauan communities in a changing world.”4 The action plan addresses ten different sectors: agriculture and fisheries, health, finance/commerce/economic development, biodiversity/conservation/natural resources, critical infrastructure, utilities, society and culture, good governance, education, and tourism.4 And, to make the policy, stakeholders were consulted in order to gauge what Palau needed to improve its governance on.4
A major, successful, sustainable solution to Palau’s carbon emissions problem is the Carbon Neutral Destination Project, which was started in 2021.1 The project is run by Palau’s Bureau of Tourism in partnership with Sustainable Travel International and Slow Food.1 The project’s aim was to develop a “transparent carbon-management plan” that would find “a balance between utilizing the natural environment as a driver of economic growth for tourism and preserving the environment for the cultural, social, and economic well-being of current and future generations and for future tourism development.”1 The plan consists of a few different parts. First, it aims to promote local food production in Palau.1 By increasing the proportion of food sourced from local producers, there could be a reduction in Palau’s dependency on imports.1 This would also provide income-generating opportunities for local communities.1 Second, the plan created a Carbon Management Program for tourists.1 The program runs online and enables visitors to Palau to calculate the carbon footprint associated with their trip, such that they can then know the amount of carbon they need to offset to make their travel carbon neutral.1 Visit this website to calculate your own personal carbon footprint. Tourists can then easily donate money that will be used in initiatives such as mangrove restoration to offset their carbon footprints.1 Third, the plan introduced the Passport Pledge, which instituted a stamp that is made in every international traveler’s passport upon entering Palau.1 Visitors are encouraged to sign the stamp, declaring that they will act in “an ecologically and culturally responsible way for the sake of Palau’s children and future generations of Palauans.”1
A major, successful, sustainable solution to Palau’s methane emissions problem is the Global Methane Pledge.4 The pledge is “a commitment to reducing global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 2030.”4 It is also a commitment to “improving the accuracy, transparency, consistency, comparability, and completeness of national greenhouse gas inventory reporting.”9 Although the pledge itself has been signed by countries globally, Palau’s signing the pledge meant a commitment to reducing the amount of methane produced in its waste sector (because this is the source of the bulk of Palau’s methane emissions).4 In order to improve waste management, Palau aims to expand solid waste management facilities through the construction and management of landfill sites, as well as to evaluate the potential for landfill gas capture projects at M-Dock.4
Are there any barriers to these solutions?
There are a few barriers to the Palau Climate Change Policy and Action Plan for Climate and Disaster Resilient Low Emissions Development. First is funding, as actually enacting the changes outlined in the plan involves a lot of action and resources that need to be financed. Another barrier is the strong influence of businesses in Palau that may be resistant to complying with strict environmental regulations as stated in the policy. Specifically, the airline industry has been difficult to get on board with reducing carbon emissions, as, for them the immediacy of profit outweighs the long term impacts of greenhouse gasses on the environment.
The Carbon Neutral Destination Project also has a few barriers. Primarily, the number one barrier it faces is that increasing local food production through local agriculture or animal husbandry would have its own baggage of greenhouse gas emissions (eg. methane from cows, burning fossil fuels in farming, etc.). Read more about how here. Enforcing the Passport Pledge is also a barrier, as there is no real means to do so.
Like with the Palau Climate Change Policy and Action Plan for Climate and Disaster Resilient Low Emissions Development, the Global Methane Pledge also faces funding as a barrier, as establishing new landfills or expanding upon existing waste management plants would involve new infrastructure and more labor. A further barrier is that in building anew or expanding upon existing constructs, more land would be needed. This could mean having to interrupt ecosystems that should be conserved or even contributing to deforestation.
So, are these solutions sustainable?
The definition of sustainability that I will use for this analysis is outlined in my Place-Based Project Essay. Please click here to view this definition.
The Palau Climate Change Policy and Action Plan for Climate and Disaster Resilient Low Emissions Development is, overall, a pretty successful sustainability effort. Foremost, this is because of its commitment to lowering carbon emissions, protecting carbon sinks, and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions, as well as to adapting to the impacts of climate change and preparing for/responding to disasters.4 This commitment aligns with our working definition of sustainability, which calls for “[reducing] pollution [and supporting] climate change mitigation and/or adaptation.” The policy and plan also have both a finance/commerce/economic development sector and an education sector, which aligns with the sustainability definition’s call for “ethical economic development” and “an elevated standard of human wellbeing.” Finally, the creation of the policy and plan involved consulting stakeholders, as the definition also recommends. I would like to note that although the policy and plan state that the intention is to support the “Palauan community in a changing world,” they do not explicitly mention the relevance of preparing for future generations as the sustainability definition does.4 Unfortunately, the plan does not explicitly mention any measurable indicators that can be used to assess its success, which is a criteria for sustainability in the definition.
According to our definition, the Carbon Neutral Destination Project is also a successful sustainability effort. The project advances a “transparent carbon-management plan” which aligns with the definition’s call for “an inclusive and transparent process.”1 It promotes local food production and creates income-generating opportunities for local communities, which creates “ethical economic development that provides equitable opportunity and empowers rather than exploits people” and “empowers individual and collective action.” Its Carbon Management Program and Passport Pledge are efforts at reducing or offsetting carbon emissions, which is part of “[reducing] pollution.” The project’s aim at preservation for the “cultural, social, and economic well-being of current and future generations” and the Passport Pledge’s dedication to action “for the sake of Palau’s children and future generations of Palauans” both align with the definition saying to “serve to meet the social and economic needs of present and future generations.”1 And lastly, the project aims to support tourism and drive economic growth, which is part of “ethical economic development” that does not “exploit people and the environment.”1 Unfortunately, the project also does not explicitly mention any measurable indicators that can be used to assess its success, which is a criteria for sustainability in the definition.
The Global Methane Pledge meets our criteria for sustainability too. Unlike the first two solutions, the pledge does state specific measurable indicators that can be used to assess its sustainability (a reduction of global methane emissions by at least 30% from 2020 levels by 20304), just as the definition warrants. It also aligns with the definition’s emphasis on “an inclusive and transparent process,” because it makes a “commitment to improving the accuracy, transparency, consistency, comparability, and completeness of national greenhouse gas inventory reporting.”9
What assets does Palau have with regard to these solutions?
Assets that are mentioned in the Palau Climate Change Policy and Action Plan for Climate and Disaster Resilient Low Emissions Development, the Carbon Neutral Destination Project, and the Global Methane Pledge include: the Climate and Clean Air Coalition,4 Palau’s Bureau of Cultural and Historical Preservation,4 Palau’s Ministry of Public Infrastructure and Industries,12 Palau’s Bureau of Tourism,2 Palau’s Ministry of Public Infrastructure and Industries,12 Palau’s Solid Waste Management Office,10 the Environmental Quality Protection Board,12 and M-Dock.18
These assets, along with many others, can be viewed here in my asset map.
References
1Andrews, B. (2021, December 2). Palau: the world’s 1st carbon neutral destination. The Forward Lab. https://www.theforwardlab.com/palau-the-worlds-first-carbon-neutral-destination/#:~:text=Tourists%20fly%20in%20from%20overseas,from%20abroad%2C%20producing%20carbon%20emissions.
2Bureau of Tourism (n.d.). PalauGov.pw. PalauGov.pw. https://www.palaugov.pw/executive-branch/ministries/hrctd/bureau-of-tourism/
3Climate Change Knowledge Portal. (n.d.). Palau – Sea Level Rise. World Bank. https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/palau/impacts-sea-level-rise
4Climate & Clean Air Coalition. (n.d.). Palau. CCA Coalition. https://www.ccacoalition.org/partners/palau#:~:text=Palau%20is%20a%20signatory%20to,from%202020%20levels%20by%202030.
5Colbert, A. (n.d.). Extreme weather and climate change. Climate Change: Vital Signs of the Planet. https://climate.nasa.gov/extreme-weather/
6Colin, P. L. (2018). Ocean warming and the reefs of Palau. Oceanography, 31(2). https://tos.org/oceanography/article/ocean-warming-and-the-reefs-of-palau
7Community Environmental Health. (2023, December 11). Environmental stakeholder inclusion. https://www.in.gov/idem/health/environmental-stakeholder-inclusion/#:~:text=An%20environmental%20stakeholder%20is%20a,agency%27s%20Nondiscrimination%20Policy%20%5BPDF%5D.
8Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI). (n.d.). Fossil Fuels. EESI. https://www.eesi.org/topics/fossil-fuels/description#:~:text=Fossil%20fuels%E2%80%94including%20coal%2C%20oil,were%20compressed%20and%20heated%20underground
9Global Methane Pledge. (2023, December 4). Homepage. Global Methane Pledge. https://www.globalmethanepledge.org/
10Koror State Government. (n.d.). Solid Waste Management Office. KSG. https://kororstategov.com/swmo/index.html
11Ministry of HRTCD. (2024, January 18). Bureau of Cultural and Historical Preservation. Ministry of HRTCD. https://ministryofhrctd.pw/culture-homepage/
12Ministry of Public Infrastructure and Industries. (n.d.). PalauGov.pw. PalauGov.pw. https://www.palaugov.pw/executive-branch/ministries/public-infrastructure/
13Montoya, J. D. (2023, November 13). Total CO2 Emissions in Palau: primary contributors and correlation with GDP – Economic Activity. Economic Activity. https://www.economicactivity.org/total-co2-emissions-in-palau-primary-contributors-and-correlation-with-gdp/#google_vignette
14Ritchie, H. (2020, May 11). CO₂ and Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/co2/country/palau
15Timelines Explorer. (n.d.). Palau. Data Commons. https://datacommons.org/tools/timeline#place=country%2FPLW&statsVar=Amount_Emissions_CarbonDioxide_PerCapita
16United Nations. (n.d.). What is climate change? United Nations. https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change#:~:text=Burning%20fossil%20fuels%20generates%20greenhouse,include%20carbon%20dioxide%20and%20methane.
17US EPA. (2024, February 16). Overview of greenhouse gases. US EPA. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases
18Woodruff, A. (2014). Solid waste management in the Pacific: Palau Country snapshot. Asian Development Bank. https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/42665/solid-waste-management-palau.pdf
19World Health Organization. (2019, July 30). Air pollution. WHO. https://www.who.int/health-topics/air-pollution