In the Tuvalu archipelago, threatened by the rise in waters, more than 80 % of the inhabitants ask for a climate visa in Australia

It could be the first migration agreement for climatic reasons. More than 80 % of the residents of the Tuvalu, the Pacific archipelago threatened by the rise in the ocean level, seek to obtain a visa for Australia as part of a treaty signed in 2024, according to official figures obtained Wednesday July 23 by the Agency France-Presse (AFP).

Australia offers visas to Tuvalu citizens as part of a climate migration agreement that Canberra presented as “The first agreement of this kind in the world”. “We have received extremely high levels of interest” With 8,750 registrations, the diplomatic mission of Australia said in a statement in Tuvalu, this island micro-state threatened to disappear under the waves by the end of the XXI^e century.

This represents 82 % of the 10,643 inhabitants identified in the archipelago, according to figures of 2022. “With 280 visas offered this year for this program, this means that many people will not be able to benefit from it”however, said the Australian High Commissioner.

Climate policy

In 2024, the oceanographic phenomenon which usually submerges the low areas of this lost land language in the middle of the peaceful ocean was amplified by heavy rain and strong winds. The waves reached 3.41 meters. Salt water has covered crops, including in areas so far spared, has pushed rocks on earth and has damaged parts of the main road, paralyzing the activity of the inhabitants.

Before the end of the century, 95 % of the territory of the Tuvalu could be flooded by large periodic tides if the increase in temperatures was not maintained below 1.5 ° C, making the country uninhabitable.

To stem this rise in waters, the local authorities have already undertaken to win 7.5 hectares of land on the sea, dragging the sand of the lagoon, to stop the waves and prevent water from climbing through the ground. Ultimately, they provided, with the support of the United Nations Development Program, to raise part of the capital of the capital to gradually relocate infrastructure and the population, if they obtain the necessary funding.