Climate change advocate Evengelyne owes it dad

By LORRAINE KLUKI
EVENGELYNE Kove’s interest in climate change was kindled at an early age by her dad’s experience of practices related to the environment.
“My career pathway was significantly influenced by my father’s traditional knowledge of environmental practices and my mother’s dedication to community service through her missionary background.”
Evengelyne, 38, graduated with a Bachelor in Environmental Science and Geography degree at the University of PNG in 2011. She is the second eldest in a family of six born to Rodney Kove of Binandere and Pauline Konene of Kokoda, in Northern. She was born and raised in Port Moresby.
Her parents instilled in her the importance of values, principles, visions and goals which became her guidance to pivotal decision-making. And community engagement in climate change advocacy was one of them.
In August 2011, she began her professional journey with a PNG non-government organisation called Partner With Melanesians (PWM), focusing on community conservation and sustainable livelihood projects in the remote areas of the country.
“Working with local communities was transformative, fueling my determination to continually improve and adapt to challenges.
“Over six years, three months I held four different roles within the PWM which deepened my passion of understanding development systems and upholding sustainability.”
Evengelyne established strong, professional networks during those years learning how to develop self-confidence, self-worth and listening to the diverse views of people, with emphasis on honest and open communication.
Evengelyne is an expert in biodiversity conservation, climate change and sustainable community livelihood projects in PNG.
In 2022, she founded Resilient Peers, a social enterprise which harnesses local talents to address rural sustainability challenges through education services.

“ My career pathway was significantly influenced by my father’s traditional knowledge of environmental practices and my mother’s dedication to community service through her missionary background.”

“I am passionate about helping people understand that climate change is a global issue affecting humanity as a whole, and how each of us, in our respective fields or localities can contribute meaningfully so we can understand individual and collective strengths to leverage them to address this phenomenon and mobilise support for collective action.”
She was picked for the special professional fellows programme for young Pacific economic leaders held in Hawaii from April to May last year.
“It was a very significant programme that added value to the current work that I am doing. I learned about value-based leadership, systems entrepreneurship and place-based education which I am integrating into my current programme design.”
Evengelyne believes that all the advocacy efforts depend on Government stakeholders’ support systems and strategic partnerships otherwise all the initiatives will be isolated limiting their impact.
“In order to effectively address climate change, I believe the Government should focus on fostering public-private partnerships to develop a comprehensive approach spanning from education to industry to policy-making.
“Despite the prevailing climate change challenges in the country, there is a lack of coordinated efforts to leverage existing best practices in PNG to ensure sustainable and long-term impacts on our community.”
But she is optimistic about future generations, given the boundless opportunities provided through information technology, entrepreneurship and volunteer initiatives.
“As young minds evolve into collaborative thinkers, my advice to upcoming leaders is to maintain a connection to their roots while embracing new approaches.
“Advocating for a complex issue like climate change is very challenging. One of the obstacles is the need for effective communication to inspire locals to adopt a new mindset especially with the existing situations that lacks the necessary support or infrastructure to facilitate these changes.”