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| Ms. Pepetua Latasi, presenting on behalf of the LEG at the UN Climate change negotiations in Doha |
5 December 2012, Doha, Qatar - This is the third in a series of
human interest stories by SPREP’s Nanette Woonton on Pacific women showing
leadership in the climate change field.
Sitting
here at the Pacific booth at the UN Climate Negotiations in Doha, every so
often someone will ask me where the Pacific is.
When I list the countries people nod when they hear Tahiti and Fiji, but
when I mention Tuvalu there is a knowing smile,
“aaaah…sinking islands,” is what they usually say.
Tuvalu, according to the World Bank in
2011, has a population of close to 10,000 people. I’ve met a Tuvaluan who has left her shores
for these two weeks to make a splash at the international arena and she seems to be doing a good
job. Ms. Pepetua Latasi of Tuvalu is the
only female in the Expert Group for the Least Developed Countries aka the LEG,
at the UN Climate Negotiations on top of that she is the Head of this group and
has been reinstated to complete a second two year term.
“It’s very challenging. When I first started I was really lost. This is a really complicated process and the
language they use is like a whole new dialect.
They shorten everything, and there are so many acronyms,” said Pepetua.
“I have found out that the only way
you can get your message across is by making your voice heard by others and
that is one of the greatest things I find about being the Chair of the LEG, I
can let people know where Tuvalu is and what we are experiencing because most
people don’t know.”
The LEG consists of 12 members two of
them are from the Small Island Developing States, Tuvalu and Solomon
Islands. It was established to advise
and provide technical support to the Least Developed Country parties on issues related
to adaptation and meets twice a year.
Under the guidance of Ms. Pepetua
Latasi, the Least Developed Countries Expert Group completed their technical
guidelines for the National Adaptation Plan of Action, which must be
implemented by the LDC’s under the United Nations Framework Convention to
Climate Change.
The LEG is now working on the National
Action Plan technical guidelines which will be presented at the UN climate
negotiations in Doha, Qatar.
“It
is an experts group so there is no negotiations work done in this group at all,
it is all technical work in the LEG. It
takes a lot of time and commitment to be a part of this, on top of what I am
already doing at the national level in Tuvalu.
It is a lot of work.”
It’s
amazing that a Pacific woman from the island nation of Tuvalu is leading a
group of 12 special experts at this international arena. Especially Pepetua, she caught up on the
process after taking a break to complete her Undergraduate degree in climate
change policy and environment management 2008 and then returned to join the UN
climate negotiations in 2011.
Pepetua
also presented at the opening meeting of the 18th Conference of the
Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, reading a
statement on behalf of the Least Developed Experts Group, addressing a meeting
hall of several thousand people.
“It’s
a very good experience being the Chair of the LEG. I am building my capacity, but have also
established networks and met people that are able to assist us and Tuvalu.”
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| Pepetua taking time out during a lunch break, with her Tuvalu delegates |
A
lot of commitment, hard work and support, has helped Pepetua succeed at what
she does including support at home.
Pepetua is the mother of a young son and having spent a number of years
in this process, with her heavy work schedule the dynamics have changed at
home.
“I
have a little boy at home and after doing this process for a while I miss out
on a lot. Things like his birthday,
preschool graduations and all those types of things. I have even noticed at home that my son turns
to his father for things that he used to ask me to do, the little things like
if my son wants a drink or wants to go to sleep, he asks for his Father instead
of me, he has a growing attachment to his Dad more than me.”
Secure
in the support she has, Pepetua has stepped up to the plate. She is representing her island nation with
pride, being fearless in making the voice of Tuvalu heard and taking on the
responsibility of leading a UN climate change experts group. You hear the expression – “one can sink or
swim.” Having dived into the UN climate
negotiations, Peptua is definitely swimming strong.
“I
encourage other Pacific women to take whatever positions they have taken on,
especially in taking leadership positions.
There is nothing wrong a women excelling in a typically male
environment. I’d tell them to go for
it!”
Pacific women in climate
change.
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