A model for caring action against rising seas

Résumé détaillé

The nation most vulnerable to sea-level rise, Tuvalu, finds help from a polluting country, Australia, setting an example for the latest global climate ...

The nation most vulnerable to sea-level rise, Tuvalu, finds help from a polluting country, Australia, setting an example for the latest global climate talks.

The latest round of global climate ​talks started this week with a new type of mental focus. Rather than simply seeking more agreements among the 190-plus countries, the 12-day conference in Turkey stresses action, especially on a worrisome climate-related hazard – rising sea levels hitting low-level land.

Attendees can easily find an example of practical action on that front, one anchored in a concept of caring for those most vulnerable.

Australia is now in its second year of providing visas to hundreds of residents of Tuvalu who want to be prepared to flee their South Pacific country someday. With an average elevation of 6.5 feet, Tuvalu’s residents are already experiencing damage to underground water supplies from a sea-level rise of about 15 centimeters (5.9 inches) in recent decades.

No one knows for sure how many people worldwide will be forced to flee submergence due to rising seas. Estimates range from 2 million to 20 million by 2100. But a 2023 treaty between Tuvalu and Australia sets a precedent for hospitality that is both practical action and a model for how carbon-polluting nations can take responsibility for the effects of global warming by ensuring “climate mobility.”

The name of the bilateral pact, the Falepili Union Treaty, reflects a Tuvaluan concept of mutual respect and duty of care. More than a third of the country’s residents applied for the first round of 280 visas granted last year by Australia. In addition, Australia and other countries are helping raise acres of land in Tuvalu to ensure many residents can remain out of harm’s way from ocean encroachment.

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“For Tuvaluans to continue to live in Tuvalu and for the international community…

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