Facing Rising Seas, Thousands in Tuvalu Seek an Escape Through Australia
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Facing Rising Seas, Thousands in Tuvalu Seek an Escape Through Australia
Nearly a third of Tuvalu’s roughly 11,000 residents are seeking Australian visas to escape the encroaching waters. Australia will offer 280 visas per year, and the first batch became available on June 16. The first migrants should arrive in Australia by the end of the year.Tuvalu is located in the west-central Pacific Ocean and has an average elevation of less than 10 feet (3 meters) Some studies suggest many of its islands will become uninhabitable due to flooding, saltwater intrusion, storm surge, and erosion before the end-of-the-century. Despite accounting for just 0.02% of global emissions, the Pacific Islands face far greater climate risks than any other corner of the planet. The government is working to preserve its land and statehood by creating a digital copy of the country. The project aims to “recreate [Tuvalan] land, archive its rich history and culture, and move all governmental functions into a digital space”
Nearly a third of Tuvalu’s roughly 11,000 residents are seeking Australian visas to escape the encroaching waters. In 2023, Australia announced that it would launch these visas as part of a bilateral treaty it signed with Tuvalu—the world’s first to create a special visa in response to climate change. Australia will offer 280 visas per year, and the first batch became available on June 16. More than 3,000 Tuvaluans applied.
Successful applicants should know the results of the lottery by the end of July, and the first migrants should arrive in Australia by the end of the year, New Scientist reported. Upon arriving in Australia, visa holders will receive immediate access to education, Medicare, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), the family tax benefit, a childcare subsidy, and a youth allowance.
“Australia recognises the devastating impact climate change is having on the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of climate vulnerable countries and people, particularly in the Pacific region,” Australia’s foreign affairs department told The Guardian.
Tuvalu is located in the west-central Pacific Ocean and has an average elevation of less than 10 feet (3 meters). Some studies suggest many of its islands will become uninhabitable due to flooding, saltwater intrusion, storm surge, and erosion before the end of the century, according to the World Bank. NASA researchers, for example, have predicted that Tuvalu and other Pacific Island nations will see at least 6 inches (15 centimeters) of sea level rise in the next 30 years alone.
“I am living the reality of climate change,” Grace Malie, a Tuvalu citizen and youth delegate for the Rising Nations Initiative, told NASA in 2024. “Everyone [in Tuvalu] lives by the coast or along the coastline, so everyone gets heavily affected by this.”
Funafuti, Tuvalu’s capital and its most populous atoll, has already experienced a sea-level rise of about 5.5 inches (14 centimeters) over the past three decades, according to NASA’s Sea Level Change Team. That’s approximately 1.5 times the global average rate. Funafuti is home to 60% of Tuvalu’s population, and by 2050, scientists predict half of its area will become submerged by daily tides.
Tuvaluans are already feeling the effects of rising seas. The constant influx of saltwater has contaminated the country’s farmland and groundwater, forcing citizens to rely on rainwater collection tanks and central raised gardens. This has made the island nation more vulnerable to droughts, water shortages, and disease outbreaks, according to UNICEF Australia.
Tuvalu has implemented strategies to combat sea level rise, particularly through the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project (TCAP), which the government launched in 2017. There have been successes, including improvements to coastal hazard monitoring, land reclamations, and coastal protections for outer islands. Still, many challenges remain.
As Tuvalu faces the reality of sinking beneath the waves, the government is working to preserve its land and statehood by creating a digital copy of the country. The project aims to “recreate [Tuvalu’s] land, archive its rich history and culture, and move all governmental functions into a digital space,” according to its website.
Tuvalu could be the first country to disappear as a result of climate change, but it almost certainly won’t be the last. Despite accounting for just 0.02% of global emissions, the Pacific Islands face far greater climate risks than any other corner of the planet. As more and more Tuvaluans make the difficult decision to leave their homes, citizens of many other island nations will get a glimpse of what’s to come.
‘Not much of a future’: Over 3000 Tuvaluans set to migrate to Australia
Australia is offering visas to 280 of the Pacific Island nation’s citizens each year under a climate migration deal. Canberra has billed it as “the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world’ More than 3,000 Tuvaluans have already entered a ballot for the first batch of visas, which accounts for almost a full third of the nation’s population. The visa program has been hailed as a landmark response to the looming challenge of climate-forced migration. But scientists fear that a long-term exodus of workers could imperilTuvalu’S future. The agreement also offers Australia a say in any other defence pacts Tuvalus make with other countries, raising concerns at the time that the Pacific nation was handing over its sovereignty to Beijing rather than Taipei. It is one of just 12 states that still have formal diplomatic relations with Taipei rather than Beijing. It also commits Australia to defending TuvalU in the face of natural disasters, health pandemics and “military aggression”
Australia is offering visas to 280 of the Pacific Island nation’s citizens each year under a climate migration deal Canberra has billed as “the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world”.
More than 3,000 Tuvaluans have already entered a ballot for the first batch of visas, according to official figures on the Australian program, which accounts for almost a full third of the nation’s population.
One of the most climate-threatened regions of the planet, scientists fear that Tuvalu has just 80 years before it becomes uninhabitable.
Two of the archipelago’s nine coral atolls have already largely disappeared under the waves.
“Australia recognises the devastating impact climate change is having on the livelihoods, security, and wellbeing of climate vulnerable countries and people, particularly in the Pacific region,” Australia’s foreign affairs department said.
Australia and Tuvalu inked the groundbreaking Falepili Union in 2024, part of Canberra’s efforts to blunt China’s expanding reach in the region.
Nearly one-third of citizens in Pacific nation Tuvalu are seeking a landmark climate visa to live in Australia as rising seas threaten their palm-fringed shores. (Photo by TORSTEN BLACKWOOD / AFP)
Under that pact, Australia opened a new visa category specially set aside for adult citizens of Tuvalu.
Already, there are signs the program will be hugely oversubscribed. Official data on the program shows 3,125 Tuvaluans entered the random ballot within four days of it opening last week.
“This is the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world, providing a pathway for mobility with dignity as climate impacts worsen,” a spokesperson for Australia’s foreign affairs department said.
Tuvalu is home to 10,643 people, according to census figures collected in 2022. Registration costs Aus$25 (US$16), with the ballot closing on July 18.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese shakes hands with Prime Minister of Tuvalu Feleti Teo after signing agreements for the Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union in 2024. Picture: X / PMO
Not ‘much of a future’
The visa program has been hailed as a landmark response to the looming challenge of climate-forced migration.
“At the same time, it will provide Tuvaluans the choice to live, study and work in Australia,” Australia’s foreign affairs department said.
But they have also fanned fears that nations like Tuvalu could be rapidly drained of skilled professionals and young talent.
University of Sydney geographer John Connell warned that a long-term exodus of workers could imperil Tuvalu’s future.
“Small states do not have many jobs and some activities don’t need that many people,” he told AFP.
“Atolls don’t offer much of a future: agriculture is hard, fisheries offer wonderful potential but it doesn’t generate employment,” he added.
The Falepili pact commits Australia to defending Tuvalu in the face of natural disasters, health pandemics and “military aggression”.
The visa program has been hailed as a landmark response to the looming challenge of climate-forced migration. (AAP Image/Mick Tsikas)
“For the first time, there is a country that has committed legally to come to the aid of Tuvalu, upon request, when Tuvalu encounters a major natural disaster, a health pandemic or military aggression,” Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo said at the time.
“Again, for the first time there is a country that has committed legally to recognise the future statehood and sovereignty of Tuvalu despite the detrimental impact of climate changed-induced sea level rise.” The agreement also offers Australia a say in any other defence pacts Tuvalu signs with other countries, raising concerns at the time that the Pacific nation was handing over its sovereignty.
Tuvalu is one of just 12 states that still have formal diplomatic relations with Taipei rather than Beijing.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said last year his country shared a vision for a “peaceful, stable, prosperous and unified region”.
“It shows our Pacific partners that they can rely on Australia as a trusted and genuine partner.”
Originally published as ‘Not much of a future’: Over 3000 Tuvaluans set to migrate to Australia