Tributes continue to pour in for the late Tony de Brum

Regional and global tributes continue to pour in for the late Marshall Islands climate champion, Tony de Brum.

The country’s President Hilda Heine issued a statement in Majuro today lamenting the untimely passing away of a Pacific Islands ‘legend’ who fought for climate change & nuclear justice.

“He fought for our independence, he fought against the tyranny of nuclear weapons and for nuclear justice for our people and he led the international fight against climate change.

“The very existence of the Paris Agreement owes a lot to Tony de Brum. He was a giant in history, a legend in every meaning of the word and a custodian of our shared future, said President Heine.

Writing from Honolulu, Pacific academic Dr Tarcisius Kabutaulaka said the late de Brum was a ‘Pacific Islander champion who has left footprints across our ocean and beyond.’

“As a politician and government minister in the Marshall Islands, de Brum was outspoken on issues like antinuclear testing and climate change.

“He led the Marshall Islands’ landmark lawsuits against nuclear-armed nations for failing to comply with their obligations under international law to pursue negotiations for the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons. For his efforts, he was nominated for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. He was also vocal on climate change issues, raising the link between climate change and global security. He took leadership at the COP21 meeting in Paris, France, in 2015.

Dr Kabutaulaka said Tony de Brum was one of those Pacific Islanders who had asserted Pacific Islands and Islanders’ presence in the global arena.

“But, beyond the international limelight, de Brum was a simple and affable man who loved to talk story, especially over a shell or two of kava or sakau; that murky Pacific Islands cocktail that has washed and blessed generations of island stories over centuries.

Tony de Brum was 72 and is survived by his wife Rosalie, three children, ten grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

 

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