GENEVA: The Marshall Islands is literally struggling to stay above water. The Marshall Islands, officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands is an island country in the Pacific Ocean located near the equator. The Marshall Islands is part of the larger island group of Micronesia.

The Marshall Island President Hilda Heine met US President Trump at the White House last month, along with the presidents of Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia to persuade him to see the threats these countries are under due to rising sea levels. But they did not talk about climate change.

“We made a conscious decision to discuss those things that we think we could accomplish, rather than spend time talking about something that we know is not going to happen,” she said. “We know that we’re not going to be able to change his mind in 30 minutes about climate change.” The Marshall Islands, comprising 31 tropical atolls between Australia and Hawaii, risks being underwater in 10-20 years.

“If that’s not scary enough, I don’t know what is. For us, it’s of course an existential issue,” said Heine, who was in Geneva to open a diplomatic mission, address the International Labour Organization and press her country’s case for a seat on the U.N. Human Rights Council. The scene of massive U.S. nuclear tests in the 1950s, it is also at risk of disaster from radioactive debris the U.S. military left behind.  (Agencies)