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Climate change in Tuvalu

April 28, 2023

Climate change is particularly threatening for the long-term habitability of the island state of Tuvalu. This is because the average height of the islands is less than 2 metres (6.6 ft) above sea level, with the highest point of Niulakita being about 4.6 metres (15 ft) above sea level. Between 1971 and 2014, during a period of global warming, Tuvalu islands have increased in size, according to aerial photography and satellite imagery.[1] Over four decades, there was a net increase in land area in Tuvalu of 73.5 ha (2.9%), although the changes were not uniform, with 74% of land increasing in size and 27% of land decreasing in size. The sea level at the Funafuti tide gauge has risen at 3.9 mm per year, which is approximately twice the global average.[2]

The Funafuti atoll of Tuvalu

Tuvalu could be one of the first nations to be significantly impacted by rising sea levels due to global climate change.[3] Not only could parts of the island be flooded but the rising saltwater table could also destroy deep rooted food crops such as coconut, pulaka, and taro.[4][5] Research from the University of Auckland suggests that Tuvalu may remain habitable over the next century. However, as of March 2018, Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga stated that Tuvalu is not expanding and has gained no additional habitable land.[6][7] Sopoaga has also said that evacuating the islands is the last resort.[8]

The installed PV capacity in Funafuti in 2020 was 735 kW compared to 1800 kW of diesel (16% penetration).[9]

The South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) suggests that, while Tuvalu is vulnerable to climate change, environmental problems such as population growth and poor coastal management also affect sustainable development. SOPAC ranks the country as extremely vulnerable using the Environmental Vulnerability Index.

Greenhouse gas emissions

 
Location of Tuvalu

On 27 November 2015 the Government of Tuvalu announced its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) in relation to the reduction of greenhouse gases (GHGs) under provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC):[10]

Tuvalu commits to reduction of emissions of green-house gases from the electricity generation (power) sector, by 100%, ie almost zero emissions by 2025. Tuvalu's indicative quantified economy-wide target for a reduction in total emissions of GHGs from the entire energy sector to 60% below 2010 levels by 2025. These emissions will be further reduced from the other key sectors, agriculture and waste, conditional upon the necessary technology and finance. These targets go beyond the targets enunciated in Tuvalu's National Energy Policy (NEP) and the Majuro Declaration on Climate Leadership (2013). Currently, 50% of electricity is derived from renewables, mainly solar, and this figure will rise to 75% by 2020 and 100% by 2025. This would mean almost zero use of fossil fuel for power generation. This is also in line with our ambition to keep the warming to less than 1.5°C, if there is a chance to save atoll nations like Tuvalu.

Impacts on the natural environment

See also: Geography of Tuvalu

Tuvalu faces challenges to its natural environment which will be exacerbated by climate change: Coastal erosion, saltwater intrusion and increasing vector and water borne diseases due to sea level rise.[11]

Climate systems that affect Tuvalu

See also: 2011 Tuvalu drought

Tuvalu participates in the operations of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).[12] The climate of the Pacific region at the equator is influenced by a number of factors; the science of which is the subject of continuing research. The SPREP described the climate of Tuvalu as being:

[I]nfluenced by a number of factors such as trade wind regimes, the paired Hadley cells and Walker circulation, seasonally varying convergence zones such as the South Pacific Convergence Zone (SPCZ), semi-permanent subtropical high-pressure belts, and zonal westerlies to the south, with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) as the dominant mode of year to year variability (...). The Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) also is a major mode of variability of the tropical atmosphere-ocean system of the Pacific on times scales of 30 to 70 days (...), while the leading mode with decadal time-scale is the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) (...). A number of studies suggest the influence of global warming could be a major factor in accentuating the current climate regimes and the changes from normal that come with ENSO events (...).[13]

 
Sea surface temperature anomalies in November 2007 showing La Niña conditions. Blue=temperature below average; red=temperature above average

The sea level in Tuvalu varies as a consequence of a wide range of atmospheric and oceanographic influences.[14] The 2011 report of the Pacific Climate Change Science Program published by the Australian Government,[15] describes a strong zonal (east‑to-west) sea-level slope along the equator, with sea level west of the International Date Line (180° longitude) being about a half metre higher than found in the eastern equatorial Pacific and South American coastal regions. The trade winds that push surface water westward create this zonal tilting of sea level on the equator. Below the equator a higher sea level can also be found about 20° to 40° south (Tuvalu is spread out from 6° to 10° south).[16]

The Pacific Climate Change Science Program Report (2011) describes the year-by-year volatility in the sea-level as resulting from the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO):

ENSO has a major influence on sea levels across the Pacific and this can influence the occurrence of extreme sea levels. During La Niña events, strengthened trade winds cause higher than normal sea levels in the western tropical Pacific, and lower than normal levels in the east. Conversely, during El Niño events, weakened trade winds are unable to maintain the normal gradient of sea level across the tropical Pacific, leading to a drop in sea level in the west and a rise in the east. Pacific islands within about 10° of the equator are most strongly affected by ENSO‑related sea-level variations.[16]

The Pacific (inter-)decadal oscillation is a climate switch phenomenon that results in changes from periods of La Niña to periods of El Niño. This has an effect on sea levels as El Niño events can actually result in sea levels falling by 11 inches (28.4 centimeters) as compared to the sea level during a La Niña events.[17] For example, in 2000 there was a switch from periods of downward pressure of El Niño on sea levels to an upward pressure of La Niña on sea levels, which upward pressure causes more frequent and higher high tide levels. The Perigean spring tide (often called a king tide) can result in seawater flooding low-lying areas of the islands of Tuvalu.[18]

Temperature and weather changes

 
Ocean side of Funafuti atoll showing the storm dunes, the highest point on the atoll.

A report in 2011 concluded in relation to Tuvalu that over the course of the 21st century:[19]

  • Surface air temperature and sea‑surface temperature are projected to continue to increase (very high confidence).
  • Annual and seasonal mean rainfall is projected to increase (high confidence).
  • The intensity and frequency of days of extreme heat are projected to increase (very high confidence).
  • The intensity and frequency of days of extreme rainfall are projected to increase (high confidence).
  • The incidence of drought is projected to decrease (moderate confidence).
  • Tropical cyclone numbers are projected to decline in the south-east Pacific Ocean basin (0–40ºS, 170ºE–130ºW) (moderate confidence).

Sea level rise

Sea level observation to collect data for the purpose of the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level (PSMSL) has been made at two locations within the Funafuti lagoon. In 1978 a tide gauge was installed at Funafuti by the University of Hawaii.[6] The University of Hawai'i Sea Level Center (UHSLC) operated a tide gauge from November 1979 until December 2001. Since June 1993 the National Tidal Centre of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has operated an Aquatrak acoustic gauge. This was done due to the uncertainty as to the accuracy of the data from this tide gauge. It was installed by the Australian National Tidal Facility (NTF) as part of the AusAID-sponsored South Pacific Sea Level and Climate Monitoring Project.[20]

The two records were synthesised into a single data source by averaging the difference between the two records over the period during which both gauges operated simultaneously.[2]

The analysis of 15+1⁄2 years of sea level data from Funafuti, identified that the sea level rise rate was 5.9 mm per year (in the 15+1⁄2 years to September 2008) and the sea level in the Funafuti area rose approximately 9.14 cm during that period of time.[21]

The analysis of 15+1⁄2 years of sea level data identified the effect of the four El Niño events that took place during that period, including a very severe one in 1997/98 that generated a significant sea level drop in the Tuvalu sea level data. The usual positive (rising) sea level trends were changed to negative values (falling) for several months due to the effect of the El Niño event. There is an inverted barometric pressure effect on sea level during a severe El Niño event due to the high air pressure in the western Pacific.[21]

The highest elevation is 4.6 metres (15 ft) above sea level on Niulakita,[22] which gives Tuvalu the second-lowest maximum elevation of any country (after the Maldives). However, the highest elevations are typically in narrow storm dunes on the ocean side of the islands which are prone to over topping in tropical cyclones, such as occurred with Cyclone Bebe.[23] In March 2015 the storm surge created by Cyclone Pam resulted in waves of 3 to 5 metres (9.8 to 16.4 ft) breaking over the reef of the outer islands caused damage to houses, crops and infrastructure.[24][25] On Nui the sources of fresh water were destroyed or contaminated.[26][27]

Tuvalu is also affected by perigean spring tide events (often called a king tide), which raise the sea level higher than a normal high tide.[28] The highest peak tide recorded by the Tuvalu Meteorological Service was 3.4 metres (11 ft) on 24 February 2006 and again on 19 February 2015.[29][30] As a result of historical sea level rise, the king tide events lead to flooding of low-lying areas, which is compounded when sea levels are further raised by La Niña effects or local storms and waves.[18] In the future, sea level rise may threaten to submerge the nation entirely as it is estimated that a sea level rise of 20–40 centimetres (7.9–15.7 inches) in the next 100 years could make Tuvalu uninhabitable.[31][32]

The atolls have shown resilience to gradual sea-level rise, with atolls and reef islands being able to grow under current climate conditions by generating sufficient sand and broken coral that accumulates and gets dumped on the islands during cyclones.[33][34][35] There remains the risk that the dynamic response of atolls and reef islands does not result in stable islands as tropical cyclones can strip the low-lying islands of their vegetation and soil. Tepuka Vili Vili islet of Funafuti atoll was devastated by Cyclone Meli in 1979, with all its vegetation and most of its sand swept away during the cyclone.[36] Vasafua islet, part of the Funafuti Conservation Area, was severely damaged by Cyclone Pam in 2015. The coconut palms were washed away, leaving the islet as a sand bar.[37][38] The effect of Cyclone Pam, which did not pass directly over the islands, shows that Tuvaluans are exposed to storm surges causing damage to their houses and crops, and also the risk of water born disease as a consequence of contamination of the water supplies.[24][39][40]

Gradual sea-level rise also allows for coral polyp activity to raise the atolls with the sea level. However, if the increase in sea level occurs at faster rate as compared to coral growth, or if polyp activity is damaged by ocean acidification, then the resilience of the atolls and reef islands is less certain.[41]

There are observable changes that have occurred over the last ten to fifteen years that show Tuvaluans that there have been changes to sea levels.[42] Those observable changes include sea water bubbling up through the porous coral rock to form pools on each high tide and flooding of low-lying areas including the airport on a regular basis during spring tides and king tides.[43][44]

Several causes of coastal flooding in Tuvalu have been identified, including: "sand mining, paving of surface areas, and manipulation of coastlines in addition to high seas caused by meteorological and climatological forces."[45]

Ecosystems

Ocean acidification was projected to continue in 2011 (with very high confidence).[19]

There is further contention as to whether saltwater encroachment that is destroying the gardens for pulaka, taro and coconut palms is the consequence of changes in the sea level;[46] or the consequence of the fresh water being extracted from the freshwater lens in the sub-surface of the atoll or the consequence of the creation of the borrow pits, which are the result of the extraction of coral to build the runway at Funafuti during World War II.[17] The investigation of groundwater dynamics of Fongafale Islet, Funafuti, show that tidal forcing results in salt water contamination of the surficial aquifer during spring tides.[47] The degree of aquifer salinization depends on the specific topographic characteristics and the hydrologic controls in the sub-surface of the atoll. About half of Fongafale islet is reclaimed swamp that contains porous, highly permeable coral blocks that allow the tidal forcing of salt water.[48] Increases in the sea level will exacerbate the aquifer salinization as the result of increases in tidal forcing.

The reefs at Funafuti have suffered damage, with 80 per cent of the coral having been bleached as a consequence of the increase of the ocean temperatures and acidification from increased levels of carbon dioxide.[49][50] The coral bleaching, which includes staghorn corals, is attributed to the increase in water temperature that occurred during the El Niños that occurred from 1998 to 2000 and from 2000 to 2001.[51] Researchers from Japan have investigated rebuilding the coral reefs through introduction of foraminifera.[52]

The atolls have shown resilience to gradual sea-level rise, with atolls and reef islands being able to grow under current climate conditions by generating sufficient sand and coral debris that accumulates and gets dumped on the islands during cyclones.[53][54][55][56][57] Gradual sea-level rise also allows for coral polyp activity to increase the reefs. However, if the increase in sea level occurs at faster rate as compared to coral growth,[58] or if polyp activity is damaged by ocean acidification, then the resilience of the atolls and reef islands is less certain.[59]

Impacts on people

Impacts on housing and long term habitability

Existing scientific narratives suggest that Tuvalu may become uninhabitable as a consequence of rising sea levels, however results of research from the University of Auckland challenge the existing narratives by showing that island expansion has been the most common physical alteration throughout Tuvalu over the past four decades. The results challenge the existing perceptions of island loss due to rising sea levels by showing that the islands are dynamic features that will persist as sites for habitation over the next century and allows for alternate opportunities for adaptation rather than a forced exodus.[6]

Despite these findings the Prime Minister of Tuvalu maintains that "Tuvalu [is] not expanding" and that "the expansion of Tuvaluan shoreline did not equate to habitable land."[7]

While some commentators have called for the relocation of Tuvalu's population to Australia, New Zealand or Kioa in Fiji,[60] in 2006 Maatia Toafa (Prime Minister from 2004 to 2006) said his government did not regard rising sea levels as such a threat that the entire population would need to be evacuated.[61] In 2013, Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga said that relocating Tuvaluans to avoid the impact of sea level rise "should never be an option because it is self defeating in itself. For Tuvalu I think we really need to mobilise public opinion in the Pacific as well as in the [rest of] world to really talk to their lawmakers to please have some sort of moral obligation and things like that to do the right thing."[62]

Health impacts

Climate change in Tuvalu is expected to cause the prevalence of various diseases to increase, including diahorreal and respiratory disease, as well as lead to compromised food security.[63]

Economic impacts

Agriculture and fisheries

Climate change is expected to worsen the following challenges:[11]

  • Pulaka (a crop grown in Tuvalu) pit salinisation due to saltwater intrusion; and
  • Decreasing fisheries population.

Infrastructure

Climate change is expected to lead to inadequate potable water due to less rainfall and prolonged droughts.[11]

Mitigation and adaptation

Mitigation

Main article: Renewable energy in Tuvalu

Policies and legislation to achieve adaptation

The National Advisory Council on Climate Change

In a speech on 16 September 2005 to the 60th Session of the UN General Assembly, Prime Minister Maatia Toafa emphasized the impact of climate change as a "broader security issue which relates to environmental security. Living in a very fragile island environment, our long-term security and sustainable development is closely linked to issues of climate change, preserving biodiversity, managing our limited forests and water resources."[64]

The threat of climate change to the islands is not a dominant motivation for migration as Tuvaluans appear to prefer to continue living in Tuvalu for reasons of lifestyle, culture and identity.[65][66] In 2013 Enele Sopoaga, the prime minister of Tuvalu, said that relocating Tuvaluans to avoid the impact of sea level rise "should never be an option because it is self defeating in itself. For Tuvalu I think we really need to mobilise public opinion in the Pacific as well as in the [rest of] world to really talk to their lawmakers to please have some sort of moral obligation and things like that to do the right thing."[67]

"The Economics of Climate Change in the Pacific" 2013 report of the Asian Development Bank estimates the range of potential economic impacts of climate change for agriculture, fisheries, tourism, coral reefs, and human health in the Pacific region; with agriculture production, such as taro, particularly vulnerable to the effect of climate change.[68] The Pacific countries are projected incur economic losses in the range of 4.6% to 12.7% of the region's annual GDP equivalent by 2100, with the degree of severity changing with different CO2 emission scenarios. [68]

On 16 January 2014 Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga established the National Advisory Council on Climate Change, which functions are "to identify actions or strategies: to achieve energy efficiencies; to increase the use of renewable energy; to encourage the private sector and NGOs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; to ensure a whole of government response to adaptation and climate change related disaster risk reduction; and to encourage the private sector and NGOs to develop locally appropriate technologies for adaptation and climate change mitigation (reductions in [greenhouse gas])."[69]

At the 20th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2014 at Lima, Peru, Sopoaga said "Climate change is the single greatest challenge facing my country. It is threatening the livelihood, security and wellbeing of all Tuvaluans."[70]

Te Kakeega III - National Strategy for Sustainable Development-2016-2020 (TK III) sets out the development agenda of the Government of Tuvalu. TK III includes new strategic areas, in addition to the eight identified in TK II. The additional strategic areas are climate change; environment; migration and urbanization; and oceans and seas.[71]

The National Adaptation Programme of Action and the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project

Tuvalu's National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) describes a response to the climate change problem as using the combined efforts of several local bodies on each island that will work with the local community leaders (the Falekaupule). The main office, named the Department of Environment, is responsible for coordinating the non-governmental organizations, religious bodies, and stakeholders. Each of the named groups are responsible for implementing Tuvalu's NAPA, the main plan to adapt to the adverse effects of human use and climate change.[72]

In 2015 the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) assisted the government of Tuvalu to acquire MV Talamoana, a 30-metre vessel that will be used to implement Tuvalu's National Adaptation Programme of Action to transport government officials and project personnel to the outer islands.[73]

In August 2017 the Government of Tuvalu and the UNDP launched the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project (TCAP) that is financed with US$36 million from the Green Climate Fund and T$2.9 million from the Government of Tuvalu. The TCAP focuses on construction works to defend infrastructure including roads, schools, hospitals and government buildings.[74][75] over a period of seven years.[76][77] The goal of the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project is to build coastal resilience in three of Tuvalu's nine inhabited islands and to manage coastal inundation risks by reducing the impact of increasingly intensive wave action.[77]

In 2020, Environmental and Social Impact Assessments were published for plans to construct hard and soft coastal protection infrastructure to reduce inundation and coastal erosion on the islands of Funafuti,[78] Nanumaga and Nanumea.[79] The implementation of the TCAP on Funafuti is proposed to be a land reclamation project, which will start from the northern boundary of the Queen Elizabeth Park (QEP) reclamation area and extend to the northern Tausoa Beach Groyne and the development of the Catalina Ramp Harbour.[78] The land reclamation will be approximately 710m in length by 100m wide, giving a total area of approximately 7.1Ha (17.5 acres). It will require approximately 250,000m3 of fill material.[78] An ecological assessment of the TCAP project considers the removal of sand by dredging in Funafuti lagoon, which was the source of the sand in the Borrow Pits Remediation (BPR) project.[78]

The implementation of the TCAP on Nanumaga is a plan to build berm top barriers on the crest of the main natural storm berm that runs parallel to the foreshore area of the main village.[79]

The implementation of the TCAP on Nanumea, is a proposal to protect approximately 1,500m of high value shoreline with berm top barriers along the crest of the main natural storm berm. For approximately 160m of coastline in front of the church, following consultation with the Falekaupule, it is proposed to reinstate the former shore by constructing a new seawall made from precast concrete interlocking Seabee units where there are the remnants of existing but crumbling hard coastal protection measures.[79]

Tuvalu Survival Fund (TSF)

The Tuvaluan government established the Tuvalu Survival Fund (TSF) in 2016 to finance climate change programs and as a fund available to respond promptly to natural disasters, such as tropical cyclones.[77] Contributions are made to the TSF from the national budget.[77][80]

Plan to upload nation into the Metaverse

In November of 2022, Simon Kofe, Minister for Justice, Communication & Foreign Affairs, proclaimed that in response to rising sea levels and the perceived failures by the outside world to combat global warming, the country would be uploading itself to the metaverse in an effort to preserve itself and allow it to function as a country even in the event of it being underwater.[81]

International cooperation

Tuvalu's role at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009

Main article: Tuvalu and the United Nations
 
Demonstrators at COP15 in support of Tuvalu.

In December 2009 the islands stalled talks at United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, fearing some other developing countries were not committing fully to binding deals on a reduction in carbon emission, their chief negotiator stated "Tuvalu is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change, and our future rests on the outcome of this meeting."[82] When the conference failed to reach a binding, meaningful agreement, Tuvalu's representative Ian Fry said, "It looks like we are being offered 30 pieces of silver to betray our people and our future... Our future is not for sale. I regret to inform you that Tuvalu cannot accept this document."[83]

Fry's speech to the conference was a highly impassioned plea for countries around the world to address the issues of man-made global warming resulting in climate change. The five-minute speech addressed the dangers of rising sea levels to Tuvalu and the world. In his speech Fry claimed man-made global warming to be currently "the greatest threat to humanity", and ended with an emotional "the fate of my country rests in your hands".[84]

2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21)

Prime minister Enele Sopoaga gives a speech on climate change in 2018, in particular noting the implications of the Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C.

Enele Sopoaga said at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) that the goal for COP21 should be a global temperature goal of below 1.5 degrees Celsius relative to pre-industrial levels, which is the position of the Alliance of Small Island States.[85]

The countries participating in the Paris Agreement agreed to reduce their carbon output "as soon as possible" and to do their best to keep global warming "to well below 2 °C".[86] Enele Sopoaga described the important outcomes of COP21 as including the stand-alone provision for assistance to small island states and some of the least developed countries for loss and damage resulting from climate change and the ambition of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees by the end of the century.[87]

Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga said at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) that the goal for COP21 should be a global temperature goal of below 1.5 degrees Celsius relative to pre-industrial levels, which is the position of the Alliance of Small Island States.[85][88] Ms. Pepetua Latasi, the director of the Department of Environment, was the Chief Negotiator for Tuvalu.[89] Prime Minister Sopoaga said in his speech to the meeting of heads of state and government:

Tuvalu's future at current warming, is already bleak, any further temperature increase will spell the total demise of Tuvalu.... For Small Island Developing States, Least Developed Countries and many others, setting a global temperature goal of below 1.5 degrees Celsius relative to pre-industrial levels is critical. I call on the people of Europe to think carefully about their obsession with 2 degrees. Surely, we must aim for the best future we can deliver and not a weak compromise.[90]

His speech concluded with the plea:

Let's do it for Tuvalu. For if we save Tuvalu we save the world.[90]

The countries participating in the Paris Agreement agreed to reduce their carbon output "as soon as possible" and to do their best to keep global warming "to well below 2 degrees C".[86] Enele Sopoaga described the important outcomes of the Paris Agreement as including the stand-alone provision for assistance to small island states and some of the least developed countries for loss and damage resulting from climate change and the ambition of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees by the end of the century.[87]

Society and culture

Activism

Climate change leadership and the Majuro Declaration 2013

In November 2011, Tuvalu was one of the eight founding members of Polynesian Leaders Group, a regional grouping intended to cooperate on a variety of issues including culture and language, education, responses to climate change, and trade and investment.[91] Tuvalu participates in the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), which is a coalition of small island and low-lying coastal countries that have concerns about their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change. The Sopoaga Ministry led by Enele Sopoaga made a commitment under the Majuro Declaration, which was signed on 5 September 2013, to implement power generation of 100% renewable energy (between 2013 and 2020). This commitment is proposed to be implemented using Solar PV (95% of demand) and biodiesel (5% of demand). The feasibility of wind power generation will be considered.[92]

Marshall Islands President Christopher Loeak presented the Majuro Declaration to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during General Assembly Leaders' week from 23 September 2013. The Majuro Declaration is offered as a "Pacific gift" to the UN Secretary-General in order to catalyze more ambitious climate action by world leaders beyond that achieved at the December 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15). On 29 September 2013 the Deputy Prime Minister Vete Sakaio concluded his speech to the General Debate of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly with an appeal to the world, "please save Tuvalu against climate change. Save Tuvalu in order to save yourself, the world".[93]

Women and children

Women from Tuvalu, such as Moira Simmons-Avafoa, along with others from Pacific countries have been encouraged to use their voices to contribute to discussion about climate change – in particular how it disproportionately affects women and children.[94]

See also

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Climate change in Tuvalu.

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External links

  • Talofa! Tuvalu Met Service
  • South Pacific Sea Level and Climate Monitoring Project (SPSLCMP)
  • Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program
  • Talanoa Dialogue Portal (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC))
  • Tuvalu's options on setting up defences against the rising sea
  • Small Is Beautiful A lobby group set up to help the island nation
  • King Tide | The Sinking of Tuvalu (2007) by Juriaan Booij.[1]
  • Tuvalu (Director: Aaron Smith, "Hungry Beast" program, ABC June 2011) 6:40 minutes - YouTube video.
  • ThuleTuvalu (2014) by Matthias von Gunten, HesseGreutert Film/OdysseyFilm.[2]
  • (28 Sep 2013) Address by His Excellency Vete Palakua Sakaio, Deputy Prime Minister of Tuvalu at the general debate of the 68th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations *


  1. ^ "King Tide - The Sinking of Tuvalu". Juriaan Booij. 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  2. ^ "ThuleTuvalu". HesseGreutert Film/OdysseyFilm. 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2017.

April 28, 2023
climate, change, tuvalu, climate, change, particularly, threatening, long, term, habitability, island, state, tuvalu, this, because, average, height, islands, less, than, metres, above, level, with, highest, point, niulakita, being, about, metres, above, level. Climate change is particularly threatening for the long term habitability of the island state of Tuvalu This is because the average height of the islands is less than 2 metres 6 6 ft above sea level with the highest point of Niulakita being about 4 6 metres 15 ft above sea level Between 1971 and 2014 during a period of global warming Tuvalu islands have increased in size according to aerial photography and satellite imagery 1 Over four decades there was a net increase in land area in Tuvalu of 73 5 ha 2 9 although the changes were not uniform with 74 of land increasing in size and 27 of land decreasing in size The sea level at the Funafuti tide gauge has risen at 3 9 mm per year which is approximately twice the global average 2 The Funafuti atoll of Tuvalu Tuvalu could be one of the first nations to be significantly impacted by rising sea levels due to global climate change 3 Not only could parts of the island be flooded but the rising saltwater table could also destroy deep rooted food crops such as coconut pulaka and taro 4 5 Research from the University of Auckland suggests that Tuvalu may remain habitable over the next century However as of March 2018 Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga stated that Tuvalu is not expanding and has gained no additional habitable land 6 7 Sopoaga has also said that evacuating the islands is the last resort 8 The installed PV capacity in Funafuti in 2020 was 735 kW compared to 1800 kW of diesel 16 penetration 9 The South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission SOPAC suggests that while Tuvalu is vulnerable to climate change environmental problems such as population growth and poor coastal management also affect sustainable development SOPAC ranks the country as extremely vulnerable using the Environmental Vulnerability Index Contents 1 Greenhouse gas emissions 2 Impacts on the natural environment 2 1 Climate systems that affect Tuvalu 2 2 Temperature and weather changes 2 3 Sea level rise 2 4 Ecosystems 3 Impacts on people 3 1 Impacts on housing and long term habitability 3 2 Health impacts 3 3 Economic impacts 3 3 1 Agriculture and fisheries 3 3 2 Infrastructure 4 Mitigation and adaptation 4 1 Mitigation 4 2 Policies and legislation to achieve adaptation 4 2 1 The National Advisory Council on Climate Change 4 2 2 The National Adaptation Programme of Action and the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project 4 2 3 Tuvalu Survival Fund TSF 4 2 4 Plan to upload nation into the Metaverse 4 3 International cooperation 4 3 1 Tuvalu s role at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009 4 3 2 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP21 5 Society and culture 5 1 Activism 5 1 1 Climate change leadership and the Majuro Declaration 2013 5 1 2 Women and children 6 See also 7 References 8 External linksGreenhouse gas emissions Edit Location of Tuvalu On 27 November 2015 the Government of Tuvalu announced its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions INDCs in relation to the reduction of greenhouse gases GHGs under provisions of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC 10 Tuvalu commits to reduction of emissions of green house gases from the electricity generation power sector by 100 ie almost zero emissions by 2025 Tuvalu s indicative quantified economy wide target for a reduction in total emissions of GHGs from the entire energy sector to 60 below 2010 levels by 2025 These emissions will be further reduced from the other key sectors agriculture and waste conditional upon the necessary technology and finance These targets go beyond the targets enunciated in Tuvalu s National Energy Policy NEP and the Majuro Declaration on Climate Leadership 2013 Currently 50 of electricity is derived from renewables mainly solar and this figure will rise to 75 by 2020 and 100 by 2025 This would mean almost zero use of fossil fuel for power generation This is also in line with our ambition to keep the warming to less than 1 5 C if there is a chance to save atoll nations like Tuvalu Impacts on the natural environment EditSee also Geography of Tuvalu Tuvalu faces challenges to its natural environment which will be exacerbated by climate change Coastal erosion saltwater intrusion and increasing vector and water borne diseases due to sea level rise 11 Climate systems that affect Tuvalu Edit See also 2011 Tuvalu drought Tuvalu participates in the operations of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme SPREP 12 The climate of the Pacific region at the equator is influenced by a number of factors the science of which is the subject of continuing research The SPREP described the climate of Tuvalu as being I nfluenced by a number of factors such as trade wind regimes the paired Hadley cells and Walker circulation seasonally varying convergence zones such as the South Pacific Convergence Zone SPCZ semi permanent subtropical high pressure belts and zonal westerlies to the south with the El Nino Southern Oscillation ENSO as the dominant mode of year to year variability The Madden Julian oscillation MJO also is a major mode of variability of the tropical atmosphere ocean system of the Pacific on times scales of 30 to 70 days while the leading mode with decadal time scale is the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation IPO A number of studies suggest the influence of global warming could be a major factor in accentuating the current climate regimes and the changes from normal that come with ENSO events 13 Sea surface temperature anomalies in November 2007 showing La Nina conditions Blue temperature below average red temperature above average The sea level in Tuvalu varies as a consequence of a wide range of atmospheric and oceanographic influences 14 The 2011 report of the Pacific Climate Change Science Program published by the Australian Government 15 describes a strong zonal east to west sea level slope along the equator with sea level west of the International Date Line 180 longitude being about a half metre higher than found in the eastern equatorial Pacific and South American coastal regions The trade winds that push surface water westward create this zonal tilting of sea level on the equator Below the equator a higher sea level can also be found about 20 to 40 south Tuvalu is spread out from 6 to 10 south 16 The Pacific Climate Change Science Program Report 2011 describes the year by year volatility in the sea level as resulting from the El Nino Southern Oscillation ENSO ENSO has a major influence on sea levels across the Pacific and this can influence the occurrence of extreme sea levels During La Nina events strengthened trade winds cause higher than normal sea levels in the western tropical Pacific and lower than normal levels in the east Conversely during El Nino events weakened trade winds are unable to maintain the normal gradient of sea level across the tropical Pacific leading to a drop in sea level in the west and a rise in the east Pacific islands within about 10 of the equator are most strongly affected by ENSO related sea level variations 16 The Pacific inter decadal oscillation is a climate switch phenomenon that results in changes from periods of La Nina to periods of El Nino This has an effect on sea levels as El Nino events can actually result in sea levels falling by 11 inches 28 4 centimeters as compared to the sea level during a La Nina events 17 For example in 2000 there was a switch from periods of downward pressure of El Nino on sea levels to an upward pressure of La Nina on sea levels which upward pressure causes more frequent and higher high tide levels The Perigean spring tide often called a king tide can result in seawater flooding low lying areas of the islands of Tuvalu 18 Temperature and weather changes Edit Ocean side of Funafuti atoll showing the storm dunes the highest point on the atoll A report in 2011 concluded in relation to Tuvalu that over the course of the 21st century 19 Surface air temperature and sea surface temperature are projected to continue to increase very high confidence Annual and seasonal mean rainfall is projected to increase high confidence The intensity and frequency of days of extreme heat are projected to increase very high confidence The intensity and frequency of days of extreme rainfall are projected to increase high confidence The incidence of drought is projected to decrease moderate confidence Tropical cyclone numbers are projected to decline in the south east Pacific Ocean basin 0 40ºS 170ºE 130ºW moderate confidence Sea level rise Edit Tuvalu Meteorological Service Fongafale Funafuti atoll Sea level observation to collect data for the purpose of the Permanent Service for Mean Sea Level PSMSL has been made at two locations within the Funafuti lagoon In 1978 a tide gauge was installed at Funafuti by the University of Hawaii 6 The University of Hawai i Sea Level Center UHSLC operated a tide gauge from November 1979 until December 2001 Since June 1993 the National Tidal Centre of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology has operated an Aquatrak acoustic gauge This was done due to the uncertainty as to the accuracy of the data from this tide gauge It was installed by the Australian National Tidal Facility NTF as part of the AusAID sponsored South Pacific Sea Level and Climate Monitoring Project 20 The two records were synthesised into a single data source by averaging the difference between the two records over the period during which both gauges operated simultaneously 2 The analysis of 15 1 2 years of sea level data from Funafuti identified that the sea level rise rate was 5 9 mm per year in the 15 1 2 years to September 2008 and the sea level in the Funafuti area rose approximately 9 14 cm during that period of time 21 The analysis of 15 1 2 years of sea level data identified the effect of the four El Nino events that took place during that period including a very severe one in 1997 98 that generated a significant sea level drop in the Tuvalu sea level data The usual positive rising sea level trends were changed to negative values falling for several months due to the effect of the El Nino event There is an inverted barometric pressure effect on sea level during a severe El Nino event due to the high air pressure in the western Pacific 21 The highest elevation is 4 6 metres 15 ft above sea level on Niulakita 22 which gives Tuvalu the second lowest maximum elevation of any country after the Maldives However the highest elevations are typically in narrow storm dunes on the ocean side of the islands which are prone to over topping in tropical cyclones such as occurred with Cyclone Bebe 23 In March 2015 the storm surge created by Cyclone Pam resulted in waves of 3 to 5 metres 9 8 to 16 4 ft breaking over the reef of the outer islands caused damage to houses crops and infrastructure 24 25 On Nui the sources of fresh water were destroyed or contaminated 26 27 Tuvalu is also affected by perigean spring tide events often called a king tide which raise the sea level higher than a normal high tide 28 The highest peak tide recorded by the Tuvalu Meteorological Service was 3 4 metres 11 ft on 24 February 2006 and again on 19 February 2015 29 30 As a result of historical sea level rise the king tide events lead to flooding of low lying areas which is compounded when sea levels are further raised by La Nina effects or local storms and waves 18 In the future sea level rise may threaten to submerge the nation entirely as it is estimated that a sea level rise of 20 40 centimetres 7 9 15 7 inches in the next 100 years could make Tuvalu uninhabitable 31 32 The atolls have shown resilience to gradual sea level rise with atolls and reef islands being able to grow under current climate conditions by generating sufficient sand and broken coral that accumulates and gets dumped on the islands during cyclones 33 34 35 There remains the risk that the dynamic response of atolls and reef islands does not result in stable islands as tropical cyclones can strip the low lying islands of their vegetation and soil Tepuka Vili Vili islet of Funafuti atoll was devastated by Cyclone Meli in 1979 with all its vegetation and most of its sand swept away during the cyclone 36 Vasafua islet part of the Funafuti Conservation Area was severely damaged by Cyclone Pam in 2015 The coconut palms were washed away leaving the islet as a sand bar 37 38 The effect of Cyclone Pam which did not pass directly over the islands shows that Tuvaluans are exposed to storm surges causing damage to their houses and crops and also the risk of water born disease as a consequence of contamination of the water supplies 24 39 40 Gradual sea level rise also allows for coral polyp activity to raise the atolls with the sea level However if the increase in sea level occurs at faster rate as compared to coral growth or if polyp activity is damaged by ocean acidification then the resilience of the atolls and reef islands is less certain 41 There are observable changes that have occurred over the last ten to fifteen years that show Tuvaluans that there have been changes to sea levels 42 Those observable changes include sea water bubbling up through the porous coral rock to form pools on each high tide and flooding of low lying areas including the airport on a regular basis during spring tides and king tides 43 44 Several causes of coastal flooding in Tuvalu have been identified including sand mining paving of surface areas and manipulation of coastlines in addition to high seas caused by meteorological and climatological forces 45 Ecosystems Edit Ocean acidification was projected to continue in 2011 with very high confidence 19 There is further contention as to whether saltwater encroachment that is destroying the gardens for pulaka taro and coconut palms is the consequence of changes in the sea level 46 or the consequence of the fresh water being extracted from the freshwater lens in the sub surface of the atoll or the consequence of the creation of the borrow pits which are the result of the extraction of coral to build the runway at Funafuti during World War II 17 The investigation of groundwater dynamics of Fongafale Islet Funafuti show that tidal forcing results in salt water contamination of the surficial aquifer during spring tides 47 The degree of aquifer salinization depends on the specific topographic characteristics and the hydrologic controls in the sub surface of the atoll About half of Fongafale islet is reclaimed swamp that contains porous highly permeable coral blocks that allow the tidal forcing of salt water 48 Increases in the sea level will exacerbate the aquifer salinization as the result of increases in tidal forcing The reefs at Funafuti have suffered damage with 80 per cent of the coral having been bleached as a consequence of the increase of the ocean temperatures and acidification from increased levels of carbon dioxide 49 50 The coral bleaching which includes staghorn corals is attributed to the increase in water temperature that occurred during the El Ninos that occurred from 1998 to 2000 and from 2000 to 2001 51 Researchers from Japan have investigated rebuilding the coral reefs through introduction of foraminifera 52 The atolls have shown resilience to gradual sea level rise with atolls and reef islands being able to grow under current climate conditions by generating sufficient sand and coral debris that accumulates and gets dumped on the islands during cyclones 53 54 55 56 57 Gradual sea level rise also allows for coral polyp activity to increase the reefs However if the increase in sea level occurs at faster rate as compared to coral growth 58 or if polyp activity is damaged by ocean acidification then the resilience of the atolls and reef islands is less certain 59 Impacts on people EditImpacts on housing and long term habitability Edit Existing scientific narratives suggest that Tuvalu may become uninhabitable as a consequence of rising sea levels however results of research from the University of Auckland challenge the existing narratives by showing that island expansion has been the most common physical alteration throughout Tuvalu over the past four decades The results challenge the existing perceptions of island loss due to rising sea levels by showing that the islands are dynamic features that will persist as sites for habitation over the next century and allows for alternate opportunities for adaptation rather than a forced exodus 6 Despite these findings the Prime Minister of Tuvalu maintains that Tuvalu is not expanding and that the expansion of Tuvaluan shoreline did not equate to habitable land 7 While some commentators have called for the relocation of Tuvalu s population to Australia New Zealand or Kioa in Fiji 60 in 2006 Maatia Toafa Prime Minister from 2004 to 2006 said his government did not regard rising sea levels as such a threat that the entire population would need to be evacuated 61 In 2013 Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga said that relocating Tuvaluans to avoid the impact of sea level rise should never be an option because it is self defeating in itself For Tuvalu I think we really need to mobilise public opinion in the Pacific as well as in the rest of world to really talk to their lawmakers to please have some sort of moral obligation and things like that to do the right thing 62 Health impacts Edit Climate change in Tuvalu is expected to cause the prevalence of various diseases to increase including diahorreal and respiratory disease as well as lead to compromised food security 63 Economic impacts Edit Agriculture and fisheries Edit Climate change is expected to worsen the following challenges 11 Pulaka a crop grown in Tuvalu pit salinisation due to saltwater intrusion and Decreasing fisheries population Infrastructure Edit Climate change is expected to lead to inadequate potable water due to less rainfall and prolonged droughts 11 Mitigation and adaptation EditMitigation Edit Main article Renewable energy in Tuvalu Policies and legislation to achieve adaptation Edit The National Advisory Council on Climate Change Edit In a speech on 16 September 2005 to the 60th Session of the UN General Assembly Prime Minister Maatia Toafa emphasized the impact of climate change as a broader security issue which relates to environmental security Living in a very fragile island environment our long term security and sustainable development is closely linked to issues of climate change preserving biodiversity managing our limited forests and water resources 64 The threat of climate change to the islands is not a dominant motivation for migration as Tuvaluans appear to prefer to continue living in Tuvalu for reasons of lifestyle culture and identity 65 66 In 2013 Enele Sopoaga the prime minister of Tuvalu said that relocating Tuvaluans to avoid the impact of sea level rise should never be an option because it is self defeating in itself For Tuvalu I think we really need to mobilise public opinion in the Pacific as well as in the rest of world to really talk to their lawmakers to please have some sort of moral obligation and things like that to do the right thing 67 The Economics of Climate Change in the Pacific 2013 report of the Asian Development Bank estimates the range of potential economic impacts of climate change for agriculture fisheries tourism coral reefs and human health in the Pacific region with agriculture production such as taro particularly vulnerable to the effect of climate change 68 The Pacific countries are projected incur economic losses in the range of 4 6 to 12 7 of the region s annual GDP equivalent by 2100 with the degree of severity changing with different CO2 emission scenarios 68 On 16 January 2014 Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga established the National Advisory Council on Climate Change which functions are to identify actions or strategies to achieve energy efficiencies to increase the use of renewable energy to encourage the private sector and NGOs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to ensure a whole of government response to adaptation and climate change related disaster risk reduction and to encourage the private sector and NGOs to develop locally appropriate technologies for adaptation and climate change mitigation reductions in greenhouse gas 69 At the 20th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in December 2014 at Lima Peru Sopoaga said Climate change is the single greatest challenge facing my country It is threatening the livelihood security and wellbeing of all Tuvaluans 70 Te Kakeega III National Strategy for Sustainable Development 2016 2020 TK III sets out the development agenda of the Government of Tuvalu TK III includes new strategic areas in addition to the eight identified in TK II The additional strategic areas are climate change environment migration and urbanization and oceans and seas 71 The National Adaptation Programme of Action and the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project Edit Tuvalu s National Adaptation Programme of Action NAPA describes a response to the climate change problem as using the combined efforts of several local bodies on each island that will work with the local community leaders the Falekaupule The main office named the Department of Environment is responsible for coordinating the non governmental organizations religious bodies and stakeholders Each of the named groups are responsible for implementing Tuvalu s NAPA the main plan to adapt to the adverse effects of human use and climate change 72 In 2015 the United Nations Development Program UNDP assisted the government of Tuvalu to acquire MV Talamoana a 30 metre vessel that will be used to implement Tuvalu s National Adaptation Programme of Action to transport government officials and project personnel to the outer islands 73 In August 2017 the Government of Tuvalu and the UNDP launched the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project TCAP that is financed with US 36 million from the Green Climate Fund and T 2 9 million from the Government of Tuvalu The TCAP focuses on construction works to defend infrastructure including roads schools hospitals and government buildings 74 75 over a period of seven years 76 77 The goal of the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project is to build coastal resilience in three of Tuvalu s nine inhabited islands and to manage coastal inundation risks by reducing the impact of increasingly intensive wave action 77 In 2020 Environmental and Social Impact Assessments were published for plans to construct hard and soft coastal protection infrastructure to reduce inundation and coastal erosion on the islands of Funafuti 78 Nanumaga and Nanumea 79 The implementation of the TCAP on Funafuti is proposed to be a land reclamation project which will start from the northern boundary of the Queen Elizabeth Park QEP reclamation area and extend to the northern Tausoa Beach Groyne and the development of the Catalina Ramp Harbour 78 The land reclamation will be approximately 710m in length by 100m wide giving a total area of approximately 7 1Ha 17 5 acres It will require approximately 250 000m3 of fill material 78 An ecological assessment of the TCAP project considers the removal of sand by dredging in Funafuti lagoon which was the source of the sand in the Borrow Pits Remediation BPR project 78 The implementation of the TCAP on Nanumaga is a plan to build berm top barriers on the crest of the main natural storm berm that runs parallel to the foreshore area of the main village 79 The implementation of the TCAP on Nanumea is a proposal to protect approximately 1 500m of high value shoreline with berm top barriers along the crest of the main natural storm berm For approximately 160m of coastline in front of the church following consultation with the Falekaupule it is proposed to reinstate the former shore by constructing a new seawall made from precast concrete interlocking Seabee units where there are the remnants of existing but crumbling hard coastal protection measures 79 Tuvalu Survival Fund TSF Edit The Tuvaluan government established the Tuvalu Survival Fund TSF in 2016 to finance climate change programs and as a fund available to respond promptly to natural disasters such as tropical cyclones 77 Contributions are made to the TSF from the national budget 77 80 Plan to upload nation into the Metaverse Edit In November of 2022 Simon Kofe Minister for Justice Communication amp Foreign Affairs proclaimed that in response to rising sea levels and the perceived failures by the outside world to combat global warming the country would be uploading itself to the metaverse in an effort to preserve itself and allow it to function as a country even in the event of it being underwater 81 International cooperation Edit Tuvalu s role at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference 2009 Edit Main article Tuvalu and the United Nations Demonstrators at COP15 in support of Tuvalu In December 2009 the islands stalled talks at United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen fearing some other developing countries were not committing fully to binding deals on a reduction in carbon emission their chief negotiator stated Tuvalu is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change and our future rests on the outcome of this meeting 82 When the conference failed to reach a binding meaningful agreement Tuvalu s representative Ian Fry said It looks like we are being offered 30 pieces of silver to betray our people and our future Our future is not for sale I regret to inform you that Tuvalu cannot accept this document 83 Fry s speech to the conference was a highly impassioned plea for countries around the world to address the issues of man made global warming resulting in climate change The five minute speech addressed the dangers of rising sea levels to Tuvalu and the world In his speech Fry claimed man made global warming to be currently the greatest threat to humanity and ended with an emotional the fate of my country rests in your hands 84 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP21 Edit source source source source source source source source source source source source source source Prime minister Enele Sopoaga gives a speech on climate change in 2018 in particular noting the implications of the Special Report on Global Warming of 1 5 C Enele Sopoaga said at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP21 that the goal for COP21 should be a global temperature goal of below 1 5 degrees Celsius relative to pre industrial levels which is the position of the Alliance of Small Island States 85 The countries participating in the Paris Agreement agreed to reduce their carbon output as soon as possible and to do their best to keep global warming to well below 2 C 86 Enele Sopoaga described the important outcomes of COP21 as including the stand alone provision for assistance to small island states and some of the least developed countries for loss and damage resulting from climate change and the ambition of limiting temperature rise to 1 5 degrees by the end of the century 87 Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga said at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP21 that the goal for COP21 should be a global temperature goal of below 1 5 degrees Celsius relative to pre industrial levels which is the position of the Alliance of Small Island States 85 88 Ms Pepetua Latasi the director of the Department of Environment was the Chief Negotiator for Tuvalu 89 Prime Minister Sopoaga said in his speech to the meeting of heads of state and government Tuvalu s future at current warming is already bleak any further temperature increase will spell the total demise of Tuvalu For Small Island Developing States Least Developed Countries and many others setting a global temperature goal of below 1 5 degrees Celsius relative to pre industrial levels is critical I call on the people of Europe to think carefully about their obsession with 2 degrees Surely we must aim for the best future we can deliver and not a weak compromise 90 His speech concluded with the plea Let s do it for Tuvalu For if we save Tuvalu we save the world 90 The countries participating in the Paris Agreement agreed to reduce their carbon output as soon as possible and to do their best to keep global warming to well below 2 degrees C 86 Enele Sopoaga described the important outcomes of the Paris Agreement as including the stand alone provision for assistance to small island states and some of the least developed countries for loss and damage resulting from climate change and the ambition of limiting temperature rise to 1 5 degrees by the end of the century 87 Society and culture EditActivism Edit Climate change leadership and the Majuro Declaration 2013 Edit In November 2011 Tuvalu was one of the eight founding members of Polynesian Leaders Group a regional grouping intended to cooperate on a variety of issues including culture and language education responses to climate change and trade and investment 91 Tuvalu participates in the Alliance of Small Island States AOSIS which is a coalition of small island and low lying coastal countries that have concerns about their vulnerability to the adverse effects of global climate change The Sopoaga Ministry led by Enele Sopoaga made a commitment under the Majuro Declaration which was signed on 5 September 2013 to implement power generation of 100 renewable energy between 2013 and 2020 This commitment is proposed to be implemented using Solar PV 95 of demand and biodiesel 5 of demand The feasibility of wind power generation will be considered 92 Marshall Islands President Christopher Loeak presented the Majuro Declaration to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki moon during General Assembly Leaders week from 23 September 2013 The Majuro Declaration is offered as a Pacific gift to the UN Secretary General in order to catalyze more ambitious climate action by world leaders beyond that achieved at the December 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference COP15 On 29 September 2013 the Deputy Prime Minister Vete Sakaio concluded his speech to the General Debate of the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly with an appeal to the world please save Tuvalu against climate change Save Tuvalu in order to save yourself the world 93 Women and children Edit Women from Tuvalu such as Moira Simmons Avafoa along with others from Pacific countries have been encouraged to use their voices to contribute to discussion about climate change in particular how it disproportionately affects women and children 94 See also Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Climate change in Tuvalu Renewable energy in Tuvalu Climate change in the Pacific IslandsReferences Edit Kench Paul S Ford Murray R Owen Susan D 2018 Sinking Pacific nation is getting bigger study Nature Communications 9 1 605 Bibcode 2018NatCo 9 605K doi 10 1038 s41467 018 02954 1 PMC 5807422 PMID 29426825 A University of Auckland study examined changes in the geography of Tuvalu s nine atolls and 101 reef islands between 1971 and 2014 using aerial photographs and satellite imagery a b Supplementary note 2 in Kench Paul S Ford Murray R Owen Susan D 2018 Patterns of island change and persistence offer alternate adaptation pathways for atoll nations Nature Communications 9 1 605 Bibcode 2018NatCo 9 605K doi 10 1038 s41467 018 02954 1 PMC 5807422 PMID 29426825 Tuvalu s Views on the Possible Security Implications of Climate Change to be included in the report of the UN Secretary General to the UN General Assembly 64th Session PDF Retrieved 17 December 2019 Tuvalu could lose root crop Radio New Zealand 17 September 2008 Retrieved 10 May 2010 Leaflet No 1 Revised 1992 Taro Food and Agriculture Organization Retrieved 10 May 2010 a b c Kench Paul S Ford Murray R Owen Susan D 2018 Patterns of island change and persistence offer alternate adaptation pathways for atoll nations Nature Communications 9 1 605 Bibcode 2018NatCo 9 605K doi 10 1038 s41467 018 02954 1 PMC 5807422 PMID 29426825 a b TUVALU PM REFUTES AUT RESEARCH 2018 03 19 Retrieved 2019 03 26 Eleanor Ainge Roy 17 May 2019 One day we ll disappear Tuvalu s sinking islands The Guardian Retrieved 17 May 2019 REG 49450 028 Preparing Floating Solar Plus Projects under the Pacific Renewable Energy Investment Facility Terms of Reference for Consulting Firm PDF Asian Development Bank ADB December 2020 Retrieved 22 January 2021 Intended Nationally Determined Contributions Communicated to the UNFCCC PDF Government of Tuvalu 27 November 2015 Retrieved 27 November 2015 a b c Tuvalu s National Adaptation Programme of Action Under the auspices of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change PDF Ministry of Natural Resources Environment Agriculture and Lands Department of Environment May 2007 Retrieved 24 Oct 2011 SPREP Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program 2009 Retrieved 22 Oct 2011 Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change Tuvalu Report of In Country Consultations PDF Secretariat of the Pacific Regional 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Reports Australia Government Pacific Climate Change Science Program 2011 Hunter John R 2002 A Note on Relative Sea Level Change at Funafuti Tuvalu PDF Antarctic Cooperative Research Centre Retrieved 17 December 2019 a b Than Aung Awnesh Singh and Uma Prasad 2009 Sea Level Threat in Tuvalu PDF American Journal of Applied Sciences 9 6 1169 1174 Retrieved 12 February 2021 Lewis James December 1989 Sea level rise Some implications for Tuvalu The Environmentalist 9 4 269 275 doi 10 1007 BF02241827 S2CID 84796023 Bureau of Meteorology 1975 Tropical Cyclones in the Northern Australian Regions 1971 1972 Australian Government Publishing Service a b Emergency Plan of Action EPoA Tuvalu Tropical Cyclone Pam PDF International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Report ReliefWeb 16 March 2015 Retrieved 17 March 2015 One Tuvalu island evacuated after flooding from Pam Radio New Zealand International 18 March 2015 Retrieved 18 March 2015 Flooding in Vanuatu Kiribati and Tuvalu as Cyclone Pam strengthens SBS Australia 13 March 2015 Retrieved 15 March 2015 State of emergency in Tuvalu Radio New Zealand International 14 March 2015 Retrieved 15 March 2015 Shukman David 22 January 2008 Tuvalu struggles to hold back tide BBC News Retrieved 5 August 2008 Tuvalu surveys road damage after king tides Radio New Zealand February 24 2015 Retrieved March 17 2015 Peak tide affects Tuvaluan communities living in coastal and low lying areas PDF Island Business FENUI NEWS PACNEWS 24 February 2015 Archived from the original PDF on 13 September 2015 Retrieved 23 March 2015 Patel S S 2006 A sinking feeling Nature 440 7085 734 736 Bibcode 2006Natur 440 734P doi 10 1038 440734a PMID 16598226 S2CID 1174790 Hunter J A 2002 Note on Relative Sea Level Change at Funafuti Tuvalu Archived 2011 10 07 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 13 May 2006 Kench Paul Dynamic atolls give hope that Pacific Islands can defy sea rise The Conversation Retrieved 16 April 2014 Arthur P Webba Paul S Kench 2010 The dynamic response of reef islands to sea level rise Evidence from multi decadal analysis of island change in the Central Pacific Global and Planetary Change 72 3 234 246 Bibcode 2010GPC 72 234W doi 10 1016 j gloplacha 2010 05 003 Warne Kennedy 13 February 2015 Will Pacific Island Nations Disappear as Seas Rise Maybe Not Reef islands can grow and change shape as sediments shift studies show National Geographic Retrieved 14 February 2015 Kogatapu Funafuti Conservation Area Tuvaluislands com Retrieved 28 Oct 2011 Wilson David 4 July 2015 Vasafua Islet vanishes Tuvalu odyssey net Retrieved 22 July 2015 Endou Shuuichi 28 March 2015 バサフア島 消失 Vasafua Islet vanishes Tuvalu Overview Japanese Retrieved 22 July 2015 Tuvalu Tropical Cyclone Pam Situation Report No 1 as of 22 March 2015 Relief Web 22 March 2015 Retrieved 25 March 2015 Tuvalu Tropical Cyclone Pam Situation Report No 2 as of 30 March 2015 Relief Web 30 March 2015 Retrieved 30 March 2015 Kench Paul Dynamic atolls give hope that Pacific Islands can defy sea rise Comments The Conversation Retrieved 16 April 2014 Laafai Monise October 2005 Funafuti King Tides Retrieved 14 Oct 2011 Mason Moya K Tuvalu Flooding Global Warming and Media Coverage Retrieved 13 Oct 2011 Dekker Rodney 9 December 2011 Island neighbours at the mercy of rising tides Australian Broadcasting Corporation Retrieved 9 Dec 2011 Lazrus Heather 2012 Sea Change Island Communities and Climate Change Annual Review of Anthropology 41 289 doi 10 1146 annurev anthro 092611 145730 JSTOR 23270712 Retrieved 13 April 2021 Baarsch Florent 4 March 2011 Warming oceans and human waste hit Tuvalu s sustainable way of life The Guardian London Nakada S Yamano H Umezawa Y Fujita M Watanabe M Taniguchi M 2010 Evaluation of Aquifer Salinization in the Atoll Islands by Using Electrical Resistivity Journal of the Remote Sensing Society of Japan 30 5 Journal of the Remote Sensing Society of Japan 30 317 330 doi 10 11440 rssj 30 317 Nakada S Umezawa Y Taniguchi M Yamano H 2012 Groundwater Dynamics of Fongafale Islet Funafuti Atoll Tuvalu Ground Water 50 4 639 644 doi 10 1111 j 1745 6584 2011 00874 x PMID 22035506 S2CID 32336745 Lusama Tafue 29 November 2011 Tuvalu plight must be heard by UNFCC The Drum Australian Broadcasting Corporation Retrieved 29 November 2011 Hugh Govan Sandrine Job et al June 2007 Funafuti Atoll Coral Reef Restoration Project baseline report PDF Coral Reefs in the Pacific CRISP Noumea Retrieved 26 October 2011 Whitty Julia 2003 All the Disappearing Islands Mother Jones Hope for Tuvalu in sand that grows the Asahi Shimbun Retrieved 8 September 2010 Kench Paul Dynamic atolls give hope that Pacific Islands can defy sea rise The Conversation Retrieved 16 April 2014 Arthur P Webba amp Paul S Kench 2010 The dynamic response of reef islands to sea level rise Evidence from multi decadal analysis of island change in the Central Pacific Global and Planetary Change 72 3 234 246 Bibcode 2010GPC 72 234W doi 10 1016 j gloplacha 2010 05 003 Warne Kennedy 13 February 2015 Will Pacific Island Nations Disappear as Seas Rise Maybe Not Reef islands can grow and change shape as sediments shift studies show National Geographic Retrieved 14 February 2015 Kench Paul 2015 Coral islands defy sea level rise over the past century Records from a central Pacific atoll Geology 43 6 515 518 Bibcode 2015Geo 43 515K doi 10 1130 G36555 1 Kench Thompson Ford Ogawa and McLean 2015 GSA DATA REPOSITORY 2015184 Changes in planform characteristics of 29 islands located on Funafuti s atoll rim PDF The Geological Society of America Retrieved 22 January 2017 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link Dickinson William R 2009 Pacific Atoll Living How Long Already and Until When PDF GSA Today 19 3 4 10 doi 10 1130 GSATG35A 1 Kench Paul Dynamic atolls give hope that Pacific Islands can defy sea rise Comments The Conversation Retrieved 16 April 2014 Taafaki Tauaasa 2007 Polynesia in Review Issues and Events 1 July 2005 to 30 June 2006 Tuvalu PDF The Contemporary Pacific 19 1 276 286 doi 10 1353 cp 2007 0036 Political Parties Cautious On Tuvalu Kioa Plan Pacific Magazine 21 February 2006 Relocation for climate change victims is no answer says Tuvalu PM Radio New Zealand International 3 September 2013 Retrieved 3 September 2013 McIver Lachlan Hanna Elizabeth 2015 Fragile Paradise Health and Climate Change in the South Pacific Health of People Places and Planet Reflections based on Tony McMichael s four decades of contribution to epidemiological understanding Australian National University Press p 345 ISBN 9781925022407 JSTOR j ctt1729vxt 35 2005 World Summit 60th Session of the UN General Assembly PDF UN 16 September 2005 Retrieved 26 April 2015 Corlew Laura 2012 The cultural impacts of climate change sense of place and sense of community in Tuvalu a country threatened by sea level rise PDF Ph D dissertation University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa Retrieved 11 September 2016 Colette Mortreux Jon Barnett 2009 Climate change migration and adaptation in Funafuti Tuvalu Global Environmental Change 19 105 112 doi 10 1016 j gloenvcha 2008 09 006 Relocation for climate change victims is no answer says Tuvalu PM Radio New Zealand International 3 September 2013 Retrieved 3 September 2013 a b Xianbin Yao Cyn Young Park November 2013 The Economics of Climate Change in the Pacific Asian Development Bank Retrieved 9 January 2014 Pacific Adaptation To Climate Change Tuvalu Report Of In Country Consultations PDF SPREP 2015 Retrieved 17 December 2019 Sopoaga Enele December 2014 Speech at the 20th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change PDF Government of Tuvalu Retrieved 11 July 2015 Te Kakeega III National Strategy for Sustainable Development 2016 2020 PDF Government of Tuvalu 2016 Archived from the original PDF on 31 December 2019 Retrieved 5 February 2017 Tuvalu s National Adaptation Programme of Action PDF Department of Environment of Tuvalu May 2007 Retrieved 7 September 2015 UNDP Supports Tuvalu Ship Fiji Sun Online 15 January 2016 Retrieved 15 January 2016 Tuvalu s climate resilience shored up with launch of US 38 9 million adaptation project UN Development Programme 30 August 2017 Retrieved 30 August 2017 Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project Government of Tuvalu June 2016 Retrieved 5 September 2018 PROJECT FP015 Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project Green Climate Fund June 2016 Retrieved 26 August 2018 a b c d Tuvalu 2018 Article IV Consultation Press Release Staff Report and Statement by the Executive Director for Tuvalu International Monetary Fund Country Report No 18 209 5 July 2018 Retrieved 5 September 2018 a b c d FCG ANZDEC Ltd 7 October 2020 Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Funafuti Report The Pacific Community Retrieved 10 February 2021 a b c FCG ANZDEC Ltd 7 August 2020 Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Nanumaga and Nanumea Report The Pacific Community Retrieved 4 February 2021 Government of Tuvalu 2017 National Budget PDF Presented by the Hon Maatia Toafa Minister for Finance and Economic Development 30 November 2016 Retrieved 26 August 2018 Craymer Lucy 2022 11 15 Tuvalu turns to the metaverse as rising seas threaten existence Reuters Retrieved 2022 11 17 Island s tough climate plea denied BBC News 2009 12 09 Retrieved 2010 04 30 Future not for sale climate deal rejected YouTube video of Fry s speech accessed 2011 03 10 a b Sims Alexandra 2 December 2015 Pacific Island Tuvalu calls for 1 5 degrees global warming limit or faces total demise The Independent Retrieved 5 December 2015 a b Adoption of the Paris agreement Proposal by the President Draft decision CP 21 PDF UNFCCC 12 December 2015 Retrieved 2 March 2017 a b Tuvalu PM praises COP 21 agreement RNZ 16 December 2015 Retrieved 16 December 2015 Paul Stella 11 December 2015 Honour Our Right to Exist Say Pacific Island Leaders at COP21 Inter Press Service Retrieved 12 December 2015 Tuvalu Chair of UN Loss and Damage Committee SPREP 5 December 2015 Archived from the original on 8 December 2015 Retrieved 5 December 2015 a b Sopoaga Enele S 30 November 2015 Keynote statement delivered by the Prime Minister of Tuvalu the Honourable Enele S Sopoaga at the leaders events for heads of state and government at the opening of the COP21 PDF Government of Tuvalu Retrieved 5 December 2015 NZ may be invited to join proposed Polynesian Triangle ginger group Pacific Scoop 19 September 2011 Majuro Declaration For Climate Leadership Pacific Islands Forum 5 September 2013 Retrieved 7 September 2013 Statement Presented by Deputy Prime Minister Honourable Vete Palakua Sakaio 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly General Debate 28 September 2013 Retrieved 4 November 2013 Pacific women hone climate change negotiation skills RNZ 2017 02 02 Retrieved 2020 06 12 External links EditTe Kakeega III National Strategy for Sustainable Development 2016 2020 Talofa Tuvalu Met Service South Pacific Sea Level and Climate Monitoring Project SPSLCMP Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program Talanoa Dialogue Portal United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC Tuvalu s options on setting up defences against the rising sea Small Is Beautiful A lobby group set up to help the island nation King Tide The Sinking of Tuvalu 2007 by Juriaan Booij 1 Tuvalu Director Aaron Smith Hungry Beast program ABC June 2011 6 40 minutes YouTube video ThuleTuvalu 2014 by Matthias von Gunten HesseGreutert Film OdysseyFilm 2 28 Sep 2013 Address by His Excellency Vete Palakua Sakaio Deputy Prime Minister of Tuvalu at the general debate of the 68th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations King Tide The Sinking of Tuvalu Juriaan Booij 2007 Retrieved 30 September 2017 ThuleTuvalu HesseGreutert Film OdysseyFilm 2014 Retrieved 30 September 2017 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Climate change in Tuvalu amp oldid 1144746062, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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