As sea levels rise, Australia said it would offer a special, first-of-its-kind “climate visa” to citizens of Tuvalu, a Polynesian island nation of atolls and sandbars where waters are eating away at the land.
The visa lottery opened last week, and already nearly half of Tuvalu’s population has applied.
By any measure, Tuvalu is one of the smallest countries in the world. It’s home to just 10,000 or so people scattered across nine small coral islands that add up to less than 10 square miles.
It has been losing land to rising seas and further losses could make it one of the first countries to become uninhabitable because of climate change.
Seawater is increasingly seeping into the country’s few drinking-water wells. Within a century, some scientists predict, the twice-daily high tide alone will inundate more than 90 percent of the country’s capital, the island of Funafuti, as well as Tuvalu’s only airport.
Most Tuvaluans live on Funafuti, which is just a few feet above sea level.
Concerns like these underpinned an agreement two years ago between Tuvalu and Australia, with the latter pledging not just to help build sea walls but to grant a special visa to 280 Tuvaluans per year that would “provide a pathway for mobility with dignity as climate impacts worsen.”
The agreement, known as the Falepili Union treaty, allows grantees to obtain permanent residency and move freely between the countries. But both countries have taken pains to avoid using language that implies that Tuvalu may one day cease to exist.
Should the most dire predictions come true, Tuvalu would be a test case for how the world treats a citizenry who haven’t lost their land to annexation but to a changing climate.
Australia’s foreign ministry says the program is an opportunity for Tuvalu citizens to work or go to school in Australia. The pact “recognizes that Tuvalu’s statehood and sovereignty will continue,” the ministry said in a statement.
At the rate of 280 people annually, it would take around 40 years for all of Tuvalu’s citizens to relocate to Australia.
Australia’s immigration posture toward Tuvalu contrasts with that of the United States, which is considering adding Tuvalu to a list of countries subject to a travel ban, The New York Times reported recently. The State Department declined to comment on why Tuvalu was included in that list.
In 2023, Tuvalu joined five other Pacific island nations in calling for a global fossil fuel nonproliferation treaty. It pledged to spearhead that movement by ending their own use of the planet-warming fuels as soon as possible.
Tuvaluan officials have sought to use their country’s plight to highlight how climate change is already having dramatic effects on communities and cultures, and how small islands and developing countries bear the brunt.
In 2021, the foreign minister at the time, Simon Kofe, released a widely shared video in which he stands at a lectern, dressed in a business suit, and appeals to the world to limit global warming. As he speaks, the camera pulls back, revealing that he’s actually standing knee-deep in a lagoon. “We will not stand idly by as the water rises around us,” said Mr. Kofe.
In addition to offering the special climate visas, Australia is also contributing millions of dollars to Tuvalu’s Coastal Adaptation Project, which aims to reclaim land around Funafuti.
Those funds and the modest number of visas are a relatively small price for Australia to pay Tuvalu for something Oceania’s giant is far more concerned about: China. Beijing has been offering to invest in Pacific island nations if they drop their recognition of Taiwan’s independence.
Tuvalu is one of only 12 nations in the world to still have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Its agreement with Australia says that Tuvalu will not enter any other international security arrangement without Australia’s explicit approval.
The country’s representative to the United Nations in New York City, as well as its director for Climate Change and Disaster Coordination, did not respond to requests for comment.
Max Bearak is a Times reporter who writes about global energy and climate policies and new approaches to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
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