CIVICUS discusses climate displacement and Tuvalu’s future with Kiali Molu, a former official at Tuvalu’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and currently a PhD candidate at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji and the University of Bergen in Norway. His research focuses on state sovereignty and climate change in the Pacific.
In Tuvalu, one of the most climate-sensitive countries in the world, rising seas and intensifying storms have made life increasingly precarious. More than 80 percent of people have applied for Australia’s new climate visa under a treaty signed in November 2023. Under the treaty, 280 Tuvaluans can resettle in Australia every year through a voting system. While civil society recognizes Australia’s willingness to host Tuvaluans, it continues to pressure major emitters, including Australia, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and fund climate adaptation measures in vulnerable countries to prevent further displacement.
Why have so many Tuvaluans applied for the Australian Climate Mobility Visa?
This visa is part of the Falepili Union Treaty agreed between Australia and Tuvalu. The treaty combines a special mobility path, guarantees around Tuvalu’s statehood and sovereignty and a broader security arrangement. Under the mobility component, Tuvaluans can apply for residency in Australia through a voting system, without being forced to move permanently.
Many applications are motivated by practical reasons, such as employment to support families at home. Others appreciate the opportunity to travel more freely, especially given Australia’s historically long and uncertain visa processes. Access to educational opportunities and social protection are also important. What is important is that selection through this route does not require people to leave Tuvalu. It creates choice and security in a context where the future feels increasingly uncertain.
How is climate change changing daily life in Tuvalu?
Rising sea levels and frequent tidal waves regularly flood homes, public buildings and roads, disrupting community gatherings, education and work. Coastal erosion continues to reduce habitable land, while saltwater intrusion contaminates groundwater and destroys pulaka pits that are critical to food security because they are used to grow staple root crops.
These impacts extend beyond infrastructure: increased dependence on imported food means families face rising costs, and standing water means an increase in water-borne diseases. Persistent flooding heightens fears of displacement and cultural continuity, and livelihoods from farming and fishing are becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. Climate change affects our food, health, housing and identity every day.
What does potential resettlement mean for Tuvaluan culture and identity?
Our identity is inextricably linked to our community, our land and the ocean that surrounds it. Tuvaluan culture is rooted in fenua – shared practices around agriculture and fishing, church life and the falekaupule, a community house. Large-scale resettlement threatens to disrupt these foundations. The transmission of everyday cultural practices, language and oral history may weaken as younger Tuvaluans grow up outside the islands.
However, mobility does not automatically mean loss of culture. Tuvaluan communities abroad are finding ways to preserve collective life, language and traditions through associations, churches and digital platforms. Initiatives such as the Tuvalu Digital Nation aim to protect cultural heritage virtually. Yet there is no substitute for ancestral land, and this raises profound questions about what it means to be Tuvaluan when our homeland becomes uninhabitable.
What climate adaptation measures does Tuvalu urgently need?
Adaptation for Tuvalu is not just about renewable energy and sea walls. While these remain essential, there is also a crucial legal and political dimension. The international system still defines statehood based on physical territory and offers little protection to countries facing permanent land loss due to climate change.
We believe that Tuvalu should push for a new global legal framework that reconsiders sovereignty in the context of climate change. This would protect Tuvalu’s international legal personality, maritime boundaries and political rights, even if parts of the territory become uninhabitable. This diplomatic strategy is as much needed as physical adaptation measures because it focuses on national survival and not just infrastructure resilience.
What responsibilities do major polluters have towards climate-sensitive states?
Major polluters have legal and moral obligations to climate-vulnerable countries. International law increasingly recognizes obligations to reduce emissions, prevent environmental damage and cooperate to protect those most at risk. Recent legal developments, including opinions of international courtsreinforce that these responsibilities are enforceable and not optional.
These obligations go beyond just emission reductions. They include providing climate finance through mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund and the Loss and Damage Fund, supporting adaptation efforts and sharing technology. For countries like Tuvalu, this support is fundamental to preserving lives, culture and sovereignty. The continued inaction of the major emitters should not only be seen as a political failure, but also as a violation of international law.
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