Tuvalu, the fourth smallest country in the world, will be uninhabitable by 2100, according to scientific forecasts. The tiny Pacific country signed an agreement with Australia to allow the reception and permanence of the Tuvaluan population through ‘special’ rights.
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This Friday, November 10, Australia and Tuvalu published an agreement, signed by the prime ministers of both countries, in which they agreed on a series of points to follow in the face of the imminent sinking of the nine atolls that make up Tuvalu.
The most notable point has been Australia’s offer to regularly receive climate refugees from the archipelago located halfway between Australia and Hawaii.
Tuvalu has a total population of 11,000 people, who at a rate of 280 per year will be able to begin moving to the country of the island of Tasmania to live, study, work, access the health system and will also be able to receive financial support upon arrival.
Although the agreement is still pending ratification, both countries have described the step as a “message of hope” in the region.
The geopolitics of a disappearing archipelago
In the same agreement, another relevant aspect is that Australia has committed to disbursing 10 million dollars for the protection of Tuvalu and the reclamation of land spaces facing the sea. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said his country is willing to offer similar deals to more nations.
The pact between Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese and Kausea Natano arises in a context of tensions over areas of influence in the Pacific: Kiribati and the Solomon Islands turned to China in recent years in search of alternatives to prevent the loss of their national territories .
Australia seeks to counteract the influence of the Asian country in the Pacific Ocean, so the agreement with the Tuvalu archipelago can be seen as a strategic victory.
Tuvalu has remained for years in the group of allies of Taiwan, the only country with a resident embassy in Funafuti (capital of Tuvalu), which is why it has refused to enter into negotiations with China on the matter.
Is it late for action?
A technical report published in June of this year, the product of collaboration between NASA and the United Nations, indicates that since 1993, sea level has risen by five millimeters per year. Although by 2100 it is estimated that total sea level rise will be equivalent to approximately one metre, by 2050 Tuvalu could see all of its critical infrastructure completely submerged in high tides.
In a 1989 report on the greenhouse effect, the United Nations already warned of the urgency of taking drastic measures to prevent the disappearance of Tuvalu and other islands in a similar situation; From that moment on, the climate displacement of island populations was feared.
Currently, two of Tuvalu’s nine atolls are largely submerged.
With AFP and Reuters
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