The State of Tuvalu and Environmental Refugees

What and Where is Tuvalu?

Tuvalu is a small collection of islands to the north of Fiji, with the capital Funafuti. A poor country Tuvalu had to franchise out its domain suffix of .tv to raise $40m, while this money is much needed and allows for development it also proves to be a curse.

And the Problem?

Globalisation and with it global environmental change leads to immense problems. Not only have Tuvaluans built roads on which to burn up fossil fuels of their own, but they suffer the affects of Western consumption.

The burning of fossil fuels leads to a rise in greenhouse gasses contributing to the warming of the atmosphere. As this warming occurs glaciers are beginning to melt and oceans expand. This excess water must go somewhere, and has begun creeping onto land masses.

The problem with being an island it that you have a large body of water around you and when waters rise, you begin to disappear. As water levels rise by 3.5mm a year land seeps into the sea and areas of forestation fall due to salt poisoning, Tuvalu now has whole atolls devoid of greenery.

While Tuvaluan authorities continue to push for a sustainable development program for the islands they know that they are fighting a losing battle. There has been no global redress with regard to ecological damage (now) Ex-Prime Minster Koloa Talake began to launch legal action against America and Australia for their polluting activities which endangered the islands. However, Talake's plans for re-election failed and the suit was never filed. Two years later Tuvalu was represented at the UN, and pleaded her case. Despite making some headway very little was achieved in positive outcomes.

So, if Tuvalu is to vanish below the pacific what will become of her inhabitants? Tuvaluans will become environmental refugees. Yet there are few places for these victims to go.While many states are open to refugees these are presented as people with a "well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality membership of a particular social group, or political opinion", not victims of man's greed. However, when the UN estimates that there will be 50m people leaving environmentally endangered territories by 2010 we need to find a way of working environmental refugees into international covenants. It is not just Tuvaluans who need a change in this definition, Moroccans, Egyptians, Libyans all face losses of farmland due to environmental change.

Tuvalu has drawn up evacuation plans for her citizens. Fiji is a suitable candidate country to which to transplant Tuvaluans, however Fijians reject the modern lifestyle and attitudes of their neighbours. Where else does Australasia have to offer? Australia and New Zealand have been discussed as refuge sites but both are unwilling to act on a large scale. Australian PM Howard has described their pacific neighbours as criminals and talks about relaxing visa restrictions have shown little promise. All this leaves Tuvalu high and dry, or rather low and sinking with no feasible solution.

So, what is the answer? Push for a revision of refugee status requirements? Partly, although this would only provide new homes for environmental refugees. What is necessary is to slow the process of global warming, and that is something we can all do, from turning off lights to getting on the bus and not in the car. Tuvalu might be a far flung location, but imagine it was the British Isles. Isn't that worth fighting for?

Originally published March 2007.