GENEVA (AP) — Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. delivered an address at a United Nations dialogue on disaster risk reduction, highlighting the existential threats facing his Pacific nation and condemning the “profound injustice” of Palau being classified as a high-income country based solely on GDP.
Speaking at an event convened by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and the government of Switzerland, Whipps emphasized that the designation ignores Palau’s acute vulnerabilities to climate change and economic shocks. “Many of our people live in income poverty, and these disasters push them further into that,” he said. “We cannot let GDP alone determine our eligibility for support.”
The president urged the international community to adopt the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI), a more comprehensive measure of economic reality that accounts for environmental and social fragility. Palau, a nation of 20,000 people, faces rising seas, devastating storms, and saltwater intrusion that destroy crops and infrastructure. Whipps noted that 6% of Palau’s taro crops—a cultural staple—are lost annually to saltwater, while tourism, the backbone of the economy, is crippled by coral bleaching, droughts, and global supply chain disruptions.
“Risk is growing faster than our capacity to understand it, prepare for it, and reduce it,” Whipps said, citing recent typhoons that destroyed 1,500 homes and displaced communities. He praised partnerships, such as Japan’s support for early-warning systems, but stressed the need for sustained investment in resilience, blending traditional knowledge with science.
The speech concluded with a call to action: “Resilience isn’t built in moments of crisis. It’s built every day … when we stop viewing disaster risk reduction as a response and embrace it as a shared global responsibility.”