Gladys Habu
From rising sea levels to a rising voice for change
Imagine if the place you grew up in no longer existed? If the home where your first memories were made slipped under the sea.
That is exactly what happened to Gladys Habu, a pharmacist turned activist from the Pacific nation of the Solomon Islands, a country quickly disappearing under rising sea levels.
Gladys and her family have lived through effects of climate change. She wants us to open our eyes to what we are all contributing to.
Gladys remembers the birds, trees, turtle nests and sandy beaches of her grandparents’ island. Now that island no longer exists. It has been completely submerged. And it isn’t just her island – four more in the region have since been lost.
Making the most of now
“It saddens me to think of my Island. Even if I went back in time, my people would not have been able to prevent this loss,” Gladys explains.
Despite everything, Gladys is not sitting back. She is standing up and acting for the ocean we all share. She wants the world to hear what is happening.
Glady’s activism has gained her worldwide attention, attracting global news programmes including ITV News in the UK and 9 News in Australia.
‘I want to be able to say…that I was I was able to contribute… so when I grow old, at least I can know I did something,’ she explains.
Hear my voice
She is now speaking out and is a global voice for, the often unrepresented, smaller Pacific islands, such as her native Solomon Islands. Gladys speaks at climate conferences, such as COP26.
At COP26, she took to the stage to grab the world’s attention about this crisis and recited a poem to her unborn child.
With all the data we have, and all the information modern and historical science is giving us about sea level rises, the time to act is now.
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