Tony deBrum

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Tony deBrum
Tony deBrum.jpg
Minister of Finance
In office
1998–2000
Preceded byRuben Zackhras
Succeeded byMichael Konelios
Personal details
Born(1945-02-26)February 26, 1945
Tuvalu[1]
DiedAugust 22, 2017(2017-08-22) (aged 72)
Majuro, Marshall Islands
NationalityMarshallese
SpouseRosalie Maddison deBrum
ChildrenDoreen Frances deBrum, Dolores deBrum, and Sallyann deBrum
OccupationMinister • Activist • Ambassador
AwardsRight Livelihood Award

Tony deBrum (February 26, 1945 – August 22, 2017)[2][3] was a Marshallese politician and government minister. His cabinet posts included Minister in Assistance to the President of Marshall Islands, Minister of Finance,[4] Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Education.

Career

He helped organize the Marshall Islands' independence from the United States[5] and later served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1979 to 1987, from 2008 to 2009 and from 2014 to 2016. He was the Minister in Assistance to the President of Marshall Islands from 2012 to 2014. He was particularly outspoken on climate change, and participated in numerous conferences and demonstrations, including the People's Climate March in New York City in September 2014.[6][7]

In mid December 2015, he took part in the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference. He succeeded in forming a new coalition between developed countries and developing countries called High Ambition Coalition.[8][9] The coalition of over 90 countries was credited with galvanising the conference around the goal of holding global temperatures to a 1.5 °C increase.[9]

He was an outspoken proponent for ocean thermal energy conversion technology (OTEC) and tried to get the US and Marshallese governments to agree to build a 20 MW floating OTEC power plant by Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands in association with Energy Harvesting Systems of Honolulu, Hawaii. On Kwajalein the local children nicknamed him "Mr. OTEC".[10]

Awards

DeBrum won the 2015 Right Livelihood Award in recognition of his "vision and courage to take legal action against the nuclear powers for failing to honour their disarmament obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and customary international law.".[11]

Personal life

deBrum is the uncle of Marshallese climate envoy Tina Stege.[12]

References

  1. ^ Friedman, Lisa (22 August 2017). "Tony de Brum, Voice of Pacific Islands on Climate Change, Dies at 72" – via NYTimes.com.
  2. ^ Tributes pour in for Marshallese "climate hero" Tony deBrum
  3. ^ "Former Marshall Islands minister, Nobel nominee Tony de Brum dies". Pacific Daily News. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  4. ^ "MARSHALLS POLITICAL FIGURE BACK AFTER 8-YEAR ABSENCE | Pacific Islands Report". web.archive.org. 5 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Marshall Islands Politician, Climate & Anti-Nuclear Activist Tony de Brum Dies". Democracy Now!. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  6. ^ "Climate change and security, Tony deBrum, Marshall Islands – Press Conference". UN. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  7. ^ ""Climate Change is Now": Former Irish President Mary Robinson and Marshall Islands' Tony deBrum". DemocracyNow.org. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  8. ^ www.climatechangenews.com
  9. ^ a b theguardian.com: How the historic Paris deal over climate change was finally agreed (13 December 2015)
  10. ^ "Major ocean energy project planned off Hawai'i waters". Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  11. ^ "Tony de Brum & the People of the Marshall Islands". The Right Livelihood Awards. Retrieved 2017-10-26.
  12. ^ "Is this our last chance to act on the climate crisis?". the Guardian. 2021-10-30. Retrieved 2021-11-02.


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