Marshall Islands ‘facing death row’ after waves batter capital

Freak waves have battered a tiny island nation, leaving its capital underwater. Now its president says the country could soon be wiped out.

A tiny and idyllic Pacific nation made up of a sprawling chain of volcanic islands is “facing death row” after its capital was lashed by massive waves, its president has warned.

Over the weekend, more than 200 people were forced to flee their homes after they were inundated by freak waves in the Marshall Islands capital Majuro.

Swells averaging five metres washed rocks and debris onto roads, temporarily cutting access to the international airport at the peak of the flooding.

The Red Cross set up evacuation centres at two schools, with local churches and Majuro’s mosque also offering help to fleeing residents.

The Marshall Islands has been battered by huge waves. Picture: Hilary Hosia / AFP

The Marshall Islands is one of the Pacific nations on the front line of climate change, which is causing increasingly intense weather phenomena and storm surges linked to rising seas.

Now, its president, Hilda Heine, has warned the country could soon be wiped out.

“The most vulnerable atoll nations like my country already face death row due to rising seas and devastating storm surges,” she said via a remote video link at a UN climate conference overnight.

She said governments that fail to come forward with strong carbon-cutting commitments over the next year are effectively “passing sentence on our future, forcing our country to die”.

“Water covers much of our land at one or other point of the year as we fight rising tides,” she said. “As we speak, hundreds of people have evacuated their homes after large waves caused the ocean to inundate parts of our capital in Majuro last week.

Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine says her country is facing death row. Picture: Jordan Vinson/ Wall Street Journal

“It’s a fight to the death for anyone not prepared to flee. As a nation we refuse to flee, but we also refuse to die.”

She wasn’t the only small nation representative with a strong message at the Madrid summit.

Lois Young, from the Alliance of Small Island States, said the world’s big polluters needed to think about the world’s low-lying coastal countries and small island nations.

“We are disappointed by inadequate action by developed countries and outraged by the dithering and retreat of one of the most culpable polluters from the Paris Agreement,” she said.

“In the midst of a climate emergency, retreat and inaction are tantamount to sanctioning ecocide. They reflect profound failure to honour collective global commitment to protect the most vulnerable.”

The climate Madrid talks are focused on finalising rules for global carbon markets and setting up a fund to help countries already reeling from heatwaves, droughts, floods and storms made worse by rising seas blamed on climate change.

UN chief Antonio Guterres opened the talks overnight by saying humanity must now choose between hope and surrender.

The UN’s climate talks began in Madrid overnight. Picture: Pablo Blazquez Dominguez/Getty Images

“One is the path of surrender, where we have sleepwalked past the point of no return, jeopardising the health and safety of everyone on this planet,” Mr Guterres said.

“Do we really want to be remembered as the generation that buried its head in the sand, that fiddled while the planet burned?”

Some 40 presidents and prime ministers took turns working that theme as the 12-day talks began, with Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen at one point holding up a plush polar bear.

“All of you, just like me, are so-called decision-makers and probably have children or grandchildren who you love,” he said in a scolding tone. “Think about those children when you take a decision on behalf of your country.”

Back in Australia, it’s been warned that Sydney and Melbourne could experience 50C summer days before the end of the century if greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise.

The Climate Council’s report said more than 206 heat records had been broken in just 90 days this year, including record-high temperatures in 87 locations.

Originally published as Marshall Islands ‘facing death row’ after waves batter capital