‘We don’t want to disappear’: Tuvalu fights for climate action and survival | Climate crisis news

Tuvalu’s climate change minister, Maina Thalia, told Al Jazeera that his country is struggling to stay above rising sea levels and needs “real commitments” from other countries that would allow Tuvaluans to “stay in Tuvalu” as the climate crisis worsens.

The low-lying nation of nine atolls and islands, located between Australia and Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean, has been struggling to maintain its sovereignty by exploring new avenues in international diplomacy.

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But for now, the country needs help just to stay above water.

“Coming from a country that is no more than one meter above sea level, reclaiming land, building sea walls and building our resilience is our first priority,” Thalia told Al Jazeera in an interview during the recent UN General Assembly in New York.

“We cannot delay any longer,” Thalia said. “Climate finance is critical to our survival.”

“It’s not about building[over]the next two or three years, but now, and we need it now, so we can respond to the climate crisis,” he said.

Thalia, who is also Tuvalu’s Minister of Home Affairs and Environment, said the funding issue would be a key issue at the upcoming UN COP30 climate meeting in Belém, in the Brazilian Amazon, in November.

“You pollute, you have to pay.”

Tuvalu is one of many countries already striving to achieve this A better deal on climate finance At this year’s COP, many advocates left last year’s meeting in Azerbaijan disappointed by the lack of ambition Target: $300 billion Developed by rich countries.

a description COP climate meeting As it becomes something of a “festival of oil-producing nations”, Thalia said Tuvalu is also exploring a range of alternative initiatives, from pushing for the world’s first non-proliferation treaty to seeking to have its entire cultural heritage added to UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Representatives of oil-producing countries are now attending COP climate meetings “in large numbers,” Talia said, in an attempt to “bury our voices as small developing countries.”

“They control the narrative. They control the process. They are trying to dilute all the scripts. They are trying to put an end to climate finance,” Talia said.

“It is time for us to call out to the world that finance is important for us to survive,” he said.

He added, “The polluter pays principle still applies. You pollute, you have to pay.”

Thalia also said it was frustrating to see his country struggling to survive, while other countries continue to spend billions of dollars on weapons for current and future wars.

“As your country faces this existential threat, it is extremely disappointing to see the world investing billions and trillions of dollars in wars and conflicts,” he said.

A report released this week by the Global Adaptation Center concluded that 39 small island nations, home to about 65 million people, already need about $12 billion annually to help them adapt to the effects of climate change.

This number is several times higher than the nearly $2 billion annually they collectively receive now, which represents just 0.2% of the amount spent on global climate finance around the world.

GCA, a Rotterdam-based non-profit, also found that island nations already suffer an average annual economic loss of $1.7 billion due to climate change.

Not only is Tuvalu focused on its survival – the island nation faces one of the gravest existential threats from rising sea levels – it is also continuing to find ways to combat climate change globally.

“That is why Tuvalu is leading Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty“Thalia said.

Some 16 countries have so far signed the treaty, with Colombia offering to host the first international conference to phase out fossil fuels next year.

“We see its importance to us,” Thalia said of the treaty.

“We want to grow in numbers so that we can reach a treaty, regardless of the agreement Paris AgreementHe said.

“We must hold industrialized countries accountable.”

Even as Tuvalu, a country with a population of less than 10,000, struggles to take immediate action on climate change, it is also preparing for its uncertain future, including creating a digital repository of its culture so nothing is lost at sea.

Thalia, who is also Tuvalu’s culture minister, said he submitted the formal initial request to UNESCO two weeks before the UN General Assembly meeting “to include the whole of Tuvalu” on the World Heritage List.

“If we want to disappear, which we don’t want to expect, but if the worst happens, at least you know that our values, our culture and our heritage are well secured,” he told Al Jazeera.

Likewise, Thalia said his country does not view the 2023 cooperation agreement with Australia, which also includes the world’s first climate change migration visa, as an indication that the island’s future is settled.

“I do not look at the Vallibilli agreement as a way to escape the issue of climate change, but as a path,” he said.

“It is a path where we will allow our people in Tuvalu to get quality education and training and then return home,” he said, referring to the agreement that gives some Tuvaluans access to education, healthcare and unlimited travel to Australia.

The text of the agreement includes an acknowledgment by both parties that “the state and sovereignty of Tuvalu will continue, and the rights and duties inherent in them will be preserved, despite the impact of sea level rise linked to climate change.”

Talia also said that A Recent ruling by the UN Supreme CourtThe International Court of Justice in The Hague declared that states have a responsibility to address climate change by cooperating to reduce emissions, following through on climate agreements, and protecting vulnerable populations and ecosystems from harm.

Thalia said the ICJ ruling “actually changed the entire context of climate change discussions.”

“The Supreme Court has spoken, and the Supreme Court has delivered its ruling,” he said of the case brought before the International Court of Justice by Tuvalu’s neighbour, Vanuatu.

“So it’s just a matter of how we live that out, or weave that into our climate policies,” he said.

He added: “We need to hold industrialized countries accountable for their actions.”