We often talk about climate change, risks and effects it may have. We may discuss the costs of insurance, or damage that it causes our businesses and disruption to some plans. Few of us have actually experienced the worst of it, or have to live with it day to day.
Island and coastal nations are home to some of the most vulnerable communities in terms of the consequences of climate change. And it is not always a matter of insurance or disruption - often it affects the entire population, impacting people and places in ways that makes the future of their communities and culture uncertain.
With an average height of one metre above sea level, Tuvalu is predicted to be submerged under the Pacific ocean by 2100, and could become uninhabitable in under a generation. Tuvalu serves as a stark reminder that those who contribute the least to climate change will need the most support to survive its most devastating consequences.
We wanted to give space for Mona, a 19 year old student, to tell you about her life on the atoll of Funafuti, Tuvalu’s capital, and how climate change is affecting her life.
Her story is a reminder that a lot of sustainability topics are often seen through the lens of numbers, quantitative data, reporting, policies etc. It does not seem real until it touches you. But it is real - climate change and nature loss are happening now and affect people’s lives every day.
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What do you love most about living in Tuvalu?
The view, the breeze, the sunsets, the lagoon - the list goes on. It is a peaceful place. A free place, where you can live a simple life. Some people go to Fiji and New Zealand, the bigger places and busier cities. I like the simple life, free life here in Tuvalu.
We have places and activities that others do not experience. Our airfield is a park, playground, date spot, sleeping spot. It is where parties and social gatherings happen.
People get excited every time a plane arrives. Kids run to the airfield every time they hear the sirens to say a plane is landing. Kids will wave at the arriving passengers, and watch everyone come out. It is a highlight of the week for everyone. Especially if that plane carried family members.
We have a lot of foreigners coming here - it is nice to have other people care about our island. It can be life changing when other people remember Tuvalu.
What do you know of climate change?
It has affected us a lot. For many generations our ancestors preserved our culture and way of living only to be threatened and destroyed by climate change.
I spent many years in my childhood happy, not thinking anything bad would happen. And now we are seeing the effects of climate change and to be experiencing it is heartbreaking.
Tuvalu is the smallest country in the world and it is predicted that it will go under water by 2100. This is disturbing - we want the youngest generation to experience what we experienced when we were kids - and to see the same beauty we had.
Apart from experiencing it, I have learned about climate change and how it is affecting us through workshops and various awareness sessions organised in school and by local companies.
Have you witnessed any changes?
Growing up I started to see the effects, especially on the houses next to the sea. We grow up playing by the sea and going into the water - often during the high tides. Now the waves are getting bigger and flooding the houses. The sea has taken 15% of the land already.
People have to move further away from the sea and create a new home. But there is not a lot of land to move to. Others simply have no options and need to stay put and deal with the flooding. Life is increasingly difficult on the island. Many people are migrating because of climate change and moving to New Zealand, Fiji and Australia.
There are other environmental issues too. When the sea reaches the houses and washes everything out to the sea, a lot of plastic and microplastic finds its way to the sea. There are a lot of fishing boats around our islands - some are from far away countries, and they leave fishing nets behind and release pollution. Fish then get wrapped up in the nets and plastic, or eat it, and microplastic makes its way into the sea. I have seen plastic inside the fish too.
Fish is important for us as income, but we have seen fish migrate to other places, where they have more food for themselves. There is also overfishing around the islands - so we have seen a large reduction in fish in the sea. So as a result we have to rely on canned food if not enough fish can be caught. Obesity and nutrition related diseases are quite widespread in Tuvalu.
Car fumes and burning waste mean our air is not as clean as it once was. We can tell the air is different, we can smell smoke.
What will make a difference for Tuvalu?
There are multiple projects going on at the moment that can help. For example, a land reclamation project (pictured). We have a large seawall project that has protected one part of the island from the higher tides. We need more of this.
There are various companies here working on different climate change related projects, creating more awareness. I also took part in a Youth Leadership programme, where we built domestic greenhouses for plants, learned how to build houses on water, and reuse plastic bottles to make rafts.
Action is being taken little by little, we need more practical solutions. It is not easy. It can be very hurtful to see the videos where they say that Tuvalu is a sinking island. We need more attention but also action.
Right now I am studying Geography, Chemistry and Maths at university. I want to become a climate specialist and an environmental change agent so that I can play a role in helping my country. I might have to move away to study. I would leave to learn, and come back to help - for the betterment of Tuvalu. You can get me out of Tuvalu, but you can’t get Tuvalu out of me!
What do you want people outside of Tuvalu to know?
We are sinking and we are fighting. Nobody understands what it is like. We need help, motivation and hope. People might not hold on if they lose hope.
As a fellow Tuvaluan Grace Marie said: “How many stories would you like to hear in order to take action?”. I want people to hear this.
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Fortunately, Tuvaluans are finding an audience on both social media and the global stage. Grace Malie, who Mona mentioned, is a young Tuvaluan climate activist who took part in COP27 in Egypt and last year’s UN General Assembly in New York. In one of her many moving speeches, which she has been giving since she was eight, Grace stresses:
“We will not go quietly into the rising sea. We will continue the fight for our land, for our culture, for our future. But we cannot do it alone. We need your solidarity.”
While the South Pacific may be half a world away, the nature of climate change and its impact on sea level rise is such that reductions in emissions everywhere will make a positive difference. Action is essential, wherever we call home. What is an action you or your business has not yet taken but can do to address climate change?
You can discover more about the issues impacting islands like Tuvalu on the Rising Nations Initiative website.
PS: One of the many remarkable things about Tuvalu is a very savvy revenue stream: the sale of its .tv internet suffix to a domain name broker. The deal has been fruitful, with the website suffix proving popular among TV broadcasters and streaming platforms. Fitting, when this is clearly a country which the whole world should be watching.
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