Sao Paulo
The prime minister of the oceanic archipelago of Tuvalu, Kausea Natano, attended the UN General Assembly in New York this week to reiterate one of the arguments that has appeared most often in the speeches of global leaders: the need to mitigate the climate emergency.
In the case of your country, the impact of this crisis has become an almost existential problem. “Tuvalu may be one of the first countries to go underwater as a result of climate change, but that does not mean it will cease to be a country,” the Prime Minister told AFP news agency, Friday (22).
Natano was referring to the provisions of the Convention on the Rights and Duties of States, a document signed in Montevideo, Uruguay in 1933 to establish the prerogatives for a state to be integrated into international law.
One of them is to have a defined territory. And Tuvalu is losing this characteristic.
The nineisland archipelago north of Fiji has 26 km² of land less than five meters above sea level most of the territory is maritime, covering 800,000 km². Two of its nine atolls, a kind of ringshaped island full of coral, have already disappeared as sea levels rise.
The country’s capital, Funafuti Atoll, has 40% of its territory submerged during the strongest tides, destroying the island’s cultivation of staple crops such as cassava and taro another common tuber in the region. The country has around 11,000 inhabitants.
The small population has little access to drinking water. As the sea water level rose, the fresh water in the region became salinized. Many citizens now boil rainwater for drinking and also use it to wash clothes, dishes and bathe. The precarious conditions have led to an accelerated emigration of residents.
Prime Minister Natano, who is head of government the head of state is the responsibility of King Carlos III as Tuvalu is a constitutional monarchy said discussions such as those surrounding the Convention on the Duties of States were “unnecessary”. “Our sovereignty is nonnegotiable,” he said.
Faced with this scenario, Tuvalu launched a project to adapt its coastline, aiming to reclaim around 3.8 km of land from the ocean, in addition to filling the most vulnerable areas of the territory. More recently, the country began to count on international help in this task.
Also in New York this week, a partnership with Australia was announced to help the country adapt to the climate crisis. The project is part of a new UN plan for a developed country to take responsibility for the financial costs of climate adaptation in a developing country.
“Tuvalu’s habitable land is already subject to rising sea levels,” the country’s Finance Minister Seve Paeniu said at the launch of the initiative. Australian authorities said they would work together to ensure greater security and accommodate the population.
Prime Minister Kausea Natano also mentioned the issue in his speech from the pulpit of the General Assembly. “Collaboration with other countries and organizations is crucial to mobilize resources and enable sustainable development,” he said, citing “existential threats” in reference to the climate emergency.
He also discussed the importance of the country’s recognition by the United Nations Tuvalu joined the United Nations only 23 years ago. “Membership of the United Nations helps us navigate these uncertain times and believe that we are not alone,” he said in another message about the importance of recognizing his territory as a sovereign state.
Sea level rise is a direct result of global warming. As glaciers and polar ice caps melt, the water level rises and socalled thermal expansion occurs.
According to experts at the UN Climate Change Committee, sea levels rose by 15 to 25 cm between 1900 and 2018. A rise of 43 cm is expected by 2100, when the planet’s temperature rises by 2 °C compared to preindustrial times.