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People of the Western Pacific
Jobod Silk contemplates under the pandanus trees in his backyard in Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Jobod, Republic of the Marshall Islands
Honouring
home: a Marshallese voice for climate justice
For Jobod Silk, a young climate activist in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the impacts of climate change are not hypothetical – they are deeply personal.
Jobod still remembers the first time he felt the force of climate change. When he was 10 years old a powerful storm flooded the backyard of his family home, the water rising to his knees, after a ship crashed into the seawall.
In this low-lying atoll nation, homes like Jobod’s are increasingly exposed to rising seas, coastal flooding and powerful storm surges.
“I felt very scared, very worried and anxious,” he recalls. It was the moment he first understood the enormity of the impact the climate crisis is having on Pacific island countries – experiencing firsthand the toll of the uncertainty it takes on people’s mental health.
That fear is something many young people in the Marshall Islands – and across the Pacific – now carry.
That fear encompasses the anxiety of losing their homes and the deeper fear of losing their identity. In Marshallese culture, as in much of the Pacific, land is more than a place – it is representative of history, belonging, and culture.
As Jobod asks, “If we are forced to leave, then who can we call ourselves?”
Watch Jobod's story
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WHO Country Office
Republic of the Marshalll Islands
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Jobod with the jaki-ed (finely woven mat) – a symbol of tradition of Marshallese culture.
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Jobod and his grandmother Cradle Alfred weaving at home.
Weaving tradition for the future
At the heart of this young man’s story is his grandmother Cradle Alfred, who named him “Jobod” – a tool used to prepare pandanus leaves for weaving. Jobod’s grandmother shaped his understanding of Marshallese culture and tradition.
It was through her that he learned the importance of preserving traditions like weaving and storytelling – vital expressions of Marshallese identity. Today, he worries that climate change threatens not only land, but also the survival of this cultural knowledge.
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Majuro, the Republic of the Marshall Islands’ capital.
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Construction of a sea wall underway.
Yet alongside the uncertainty climate change brings, there is determination. As a youth coordinator for the Marshallese non-profit Jo-Jikum and as an international climate activist, Jobod works to empower young people to raise their voices.
His journey into advocacy began through art when he co-wrote a song during a climate workshop that helped him process his experiences. He now encourages others to use creativity to transform anxiety into action.
“Youth don’t see themselves as victims,” he explains. “They see themselves as changemakers.”
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Jobod playing music with youth at Jo-Jikum’s centre in Majuro.
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Jobod playing his guitar at home in the Marshall Islands.
Across the Marshall Islands, and across the Pacific, more and more young people are speaking out, drawing strength from their elders and ancestors. Jobod describes it like a canoe: the youth paddling forward with energy, guided by the wisdom of those who came before.
For Jobod and many like him, the future is worth fighting for. He envisions a Marshall Islands where the next generation can continue to live, breathe and experience their homeland as he has.
Through his voice, his art and his advocacy, he is helping to weave a future where this remains possible.
Strengthening partnerships for climate resilience
Mental health is an increasingly recognized health risk linked to climate change, as growing uncertainty and disruption place added emotional strain on individuals and communities.
Mental health impacts like stress, depression and anxiety can be triggered by climate-related resettlement, extreme weather events, uncertainty, loss of livelihoods and an increase in climate-sensitive diseases.
In its Mental health and Climate Change: Policy Brief, WHO calls for stronger action – urging countries and areas across the region to better connect mental health support with climate response efforts, involve communities in solutions, build on existing commitments, and invest more resources to ensure people are supported and better prepared for the challenges ahead.
WHO is supporting projects that are strengthening climate-resilient health systems through investments in infrastructure, policy development and capacity building for health workers and communities.
In the Marshall Islands the Ministry of Health and Human Services, with the support of WHO, and funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), are implementing the Enhancing the Resilience of Health Systems to Climate Change and Emerging Pandemics project. This initiative is taking stock of current climate change-related health risks and providing recommendations for adaptation action.