Ms Angela Burnett Penn presenting to the Task Force on Green Business of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Photo: Provided

Ms Angela Burnett Penn with Mr Carson Wen, Task Force Chairman (left) and Akash Bhavsar, Task Force member (center). Photo: Provided

In front of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Photo: Provided

This obtained, since author—Virgin Islands (VI) own—Ms Angela Burnett Penn, was at the time giving a presentation on Hurricane Irma.

The presentation took place during the ESCAP Sustainable Business Network 6th meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, on the invitation of Mr Carson Wen, Chairman of the Task Force and  Founder and Chairman of the Bank of Asia, BVI.

Perfect Medium

Ms Burnett Penn, in an interview with Virgin Islands News Online (VINO), said that Mr Wen, gave the invitation while he was visiting the VI.

She told this publication, “I met Mr Wen this summer while he was at lunch in BVI and signed a copy of the book for him, which he had been gifted…He was very impressed by the book and its mission and spontaneously invited me to present at the meeting.”

According to the Author, “Mr Wen strongly believes in the importance of leaders understanding the real life impacts of climate change and thought The Irma Diaries was a perfect way to communicate that.”

Speaking to her presentation on Tuesday last and what was accomplished, Ms Burnett Penn told VINO, “I think I made climate change human, for business leaders and hopefully my presentation will influence their future decision making…Everyone was moved by the presentation.”

Financial Centre

She noted too, that one gentleman in the audience even confessed that before the presentation, he only thought of VI as a financial center and never gave “any thought to the people who live there and our lives.”

Ms Burnett Penn related that even when he saw the newspaper coverage of Hurricane Irma, he didn't pay it much attention.

“He said that sharing the stories through The Irma Diaries really made it human and connected with him…He now wants to work with me to get the stories to a wider audience.”

New Global War

The Irma Diaries Author also used her presentation cast Climate Change as a new global war with millions of potential casualties and refugees and shared Irma’s impact on the VI and its people, in a very intimate and personal style drawing on survivor stories captured in book

The presentation in Bangkok is her latest in a series of global speaking engagements using The Irma Diaries as a tool to bridge personal, action-inspiring connections to climate change.

This year, presentations were had at leading universities across the USA, various entities in Europe and regional conferences.

She has also participated in numerous online fora and contributed to international magazine articles.

Ms Burnett Penn, with the sponsorship of local businesses, also recently launched the Read to Heal school programme to educate local youth about climate change impacts and heal trauma from Hurricane Irma.