H.E.\u00a0 Caleb Otto, M.D., United Nations ambassador of the Republic of Palau, recently served as the featured speaker at this year\u2019s faculty colloquium, an annual event designed to enrich the knowledge of the University community through an exclusive dialogue with visiting U.N. ambassadors.<\/p>\n
Several members of the faculty and staff gathered to listen to Dr. Otto, who focused on the issue of climate change and its detrimental effects on not only his native country of Palau, but the many other small Pacific islands.<\/p>\n
\u201cClimate change is the most severe pressing threat to consolidating developmental gains and to the future development of all the countries,\u201d said Dr. Otto. \u201cWe need to look at the enormity and complexity of climate change as a global economic problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Otto discussed many harmful impacts of climate change to Palau and developing countries, including rising sea levels, land erosion and more frequent, increasingly intense tropical storms. Emphasizing the need for science-based policies to address climate change, he also offered potential solutions such as mitigation of greenhouse gasses, reduction of fossil fuels and heading off deforestation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI challenge all of you to think about making your homes more energy efficient, to minimize your own personal use of energy and to encourage breast feeding worldwide to reduce the carbon footprint of breast milk substitutes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Otto acknowledged that some losses due to climate change could not be recouped, but that people should not be deterred from finding solutions to prevent those losses from becoming even more devastating. He also pointed out that Palau and other countries have limited access to money, capacity and technology to address the impacts of global warming.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been very vocal about the need to recognize our special cases. Our countries are small, isolated, don\u2019t have money and have little way of economic development,\u201d added Dr. Otto. \u201cWe are just at the receiving end of climate change.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to climate change, Dr. Otto also discussed Palau\u2019s recent move to pass legislation that makes all of its waters a national marine sanctuary. This means all commercial fishing is banned in hopes of bringing the country\u2019s dwindling biodiversity back to life.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think this is the way to tell the world we mean business and that we\u2019ll deal with the hardships that come with it,\u201d added Dr. Otto. \u201cAt the end of the day, it is what is best for our people, our land and our planet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Otto was not the only ambassador on campus that day. Sylvester Rowe, former ambassador of Sierra Leone, and his wife, Juliana, were also at Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s where they held a discussion titled “Ethical Leadership, Governance and Social Responsibility.” Mrs. Rowe spoke first, telling\u00a0the story of the Book of Esther as it relates to ethics and social\u00a0responsibility. Ambassador Rowe then spoke about\u00a0the concepts of ethics and social responsibility within the political and diplomatic realm.<\/p>\n
Both events were sponsored by The Guarini Institute for Government and Leadership at Â鶹ÊÓƵ\u2019s University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
H.E.\u00a0 Caleb Otto, M.D., United Nations ambassador of the Republic of Palau, recently served as the featured speaker at this year\u2019s faculty colloquium, an annual event designed to enrich the knowledge of the University community through an exclusive dialogue with visiting U.N. ambassadors. Several members of the faculty and staff gathered to listen to Dr. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3,5,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni","category-current-students","category-faculty-staff","category-future-students"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n