Uili Lousi to Present 'Climate Change in Tonga' Sept. 26

South Pacific environmental activist Uili Lousi will present "Climate Change in Tonga" at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 26 in Academic West 204 as the first installment of the annual Huxley Speaker Series.

Like all of the Huxley Speaker Series events, Lousi's presentation is free and open to the public.

Rising sea levels as a result of climate change threaten the survival of Tonga and other nations in the South Pacific, putting coastal communities at risk, warming ocean temperatures, and increasing the strength of cyclones/hurricanes. Cyclone Gita (2018), the strongest cyclone to ever make landfall on Tonga, caused significant damage. In this presentation, Lousi will discuss the impact of climate change in Tonga and the South Pacific, and his efforts to educate world leaders about the need to reduce carbon emissions that contribute to climate change.

As a Tongan delegate to multiple United Nations Climate Change Conferences and a panel member with Vice President Al Gore at the Climate Leadership Training in Australia, Lousi raises the attention of the rest of the world to the unique plight of the South Pacific region as it faces global climate change. During his keynote presentation at the Blue Ocean Nexus Conference at the Musee du Quai Branly in Paris for example, Lousi underscored the need to provide safe waters for humpback whales who give birth in Tongan waters.

Lousi is president of the Ohai Foundation Tonga, a nonprofit non-governmental organization devoted to climate-change work. He is currently working with David Sattler of Western’s Psychology Department to conduct climate-change research projects in Tonga.

Complimentary Parking for the Huxley Speaker Series is available in Parking Lot 12A after 4 p.m. on Thursdays; for the full slate of Fall Quarter Huxley Speaker Series presentations, go to https://huxley.wwu.edu/files/media/2019_Fall_POSTER.pdf.