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Tuvalu Reclamation Effort Highlights Pacific Climate Vulnerability
Tuvalu is a small island country in the Pacific, and much of its land is only a little above the sea.
As the sea rises, floods can become larger and more damaging.
Tuvalu is adding land by placing sand dredged from a lagoon along its coast.
The work is part of a donor-funded project that also includes seawalls and barriers.
Leaders from many countries watched the work during a meeting before the next United Nations climate conference.
Tuvalu’s leaders said that countries need to turn climate promises into action.
Australia is paying for the meeting, while critics point out that it also exports coal and gas and approves fossil fuel projects.
Tuvalu hopes the visitors will take its warning about rising seas with them.
Representatives from 30 nations watched Tuvalu use dredged sand to reclaim land from the ocean.
The six-hectare project is part of about $50 million in donor-funded work, including seawalls and barriers.
The series of projects is expected to add about 21 hectares to Tuvalu’s main island, whose total land area is around 26 square kilometres.
NASA researchers say sea levels around Tuvalu rose about 15 centimetres in the three decades to 2023, roughly twice the global average.
The gathering preceded COP31 climate talks in Turkey in November and was intended to draw attention to rising sea levels.
- Who
- Tuvalu officials and representatives from 30 nations, including Pacific leaders, attended the reclamation event.
- What
- Tuvalu demonstrated a land-reclamation project using sand dredged from an atoll lagoon.
- Where
- Tuvalu’s main island, Funafuti.
- When
- Tuesday, ahead of the COP31 climate forum scheduled for November.
- Why
- The work aims to protect land from rising seas and flooding, while the gathering sought to highlight the climate threat facing Pacific islands.
Climate action and fossil fuel criticism
Australia’s stated focus
Australia’s climate role
Climate action and fossil fuel criticism
Australia has drawn criticism as a major coal and gas exporter that continues to approve fossil fuel projects.
Australia’s stated focus
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the Tuvalu project as an example of what climate action can look like, and Australia is funding the pre-COP gathering.
Key facts
- Reclamation area demonstrated
- Six hectares (14 acres)
- Project funding
- About $50 million in donor funds
- Expected land added
- About 21 hectares (52 acres) across the series of projects
- Tuvalu's total land area
- Around 26 square kilometres (10 square miles)
- Sea-level rise around Tuvalu
- About 15 centimetres (6 inches) in the three decades to 2023, according to NASA researchers
- Attendance
- Representatives from 30 nations watched the effort
- COP31 location and timing
- Turkey in November
Quotes
Jamie Ovia
Head of Tuvalu’s climate change department
“Small amounts of sea level rise make a very big difference in making flood events bigger and more damaging. If we add just 30 cm (12 inches) of sea level rise – expected by 2050 – this supercharges the flooding and makes it drastically bigger than floods we would have seen every 100 years in the past.”
theprint.in
“Every fraction of a degree matters.”
theprint.in
Anthony Albanese
Prime Minister of Australia
“Here in Tuvalu we are seeing what action can look like. It’s about people.”
theprint.in
Sources
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