The first Pacific meeting of the Executive Committee of the Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) for Loss and Damage associated with Climate Change impacts is being held in Majuro, giving global climate officials a first-hand look at the realities faced by communities on the frontline of climate change.
The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is hosting the WIM Executive Committee meeting from 14–18 September 2026, bringing the global climate body to the Pacific for the first time.
The convening of the WIM ExCom in the Marshall Islands was made possible through the COP31 Australia-Pacific Partnership, providing a fitting backdrop to discussions on loss and damage.
RMI Minister-in-Assistance to the President and Environment, Jess Gasper, said the meeting was important because WIM ExCom members could experience the impacts of climate change directly rather than relying on reports.
“It is very important for the WIM ExCom community to come here. Instead of reading things on paper, they get to actually see it and live reality.
“They see the ocean. We’re a couple of metres away from the ocean. They see the narrow strip of these roadways,” Gasper said.
Gasper said the visit would also allow Committee members to hear directly from communities dealing with the loss of homes and land.
“They see the people who are losing, like somebody like me, the community of Bikini, and get to talk with us about loss of homes, loss of land,” he said.
“We want them to have that experience while they’re here in the Marshall Islands,” he said.
The meeting included Pacific youth representatives who shared their lived experiences of climate change and its impacts with members of the Committee.
The presence of the WIM ExCom in Majuro provides an opportunity for Pacific experiences, concerns and priorities on loss and damage to be brought directly into global discussions.
For Pacific Island countries, the impacts of climate change include rising seas, threats to land and homes, displacement and growing risks to communities and livelihoods.
The Marshall Islands has repeatedly highlighted the need for global climate action to reflect the realities faced by communities living on the frontline of climate change.
The week-long meeting in Majuro is providing the WIM ExCom with direct exposure to those realities as it considers the global response to loss and damage associated with climate change.
