Do you remember the Pacific island nation of Nauru, which made a fortune digging bird droppings mentioned in your textbooks when you were a student?
As early as the 70s of the last century, in response to the threat of rising seas, Nauru invested in the construction of a 52-story building, the "Nauru Building", in Melbourne, Australia, in order to migrate to Australia when the Nauru mainland was inuninhabitable by the sea. Completed in 1977, it was the tallest building in all of Melbourne at the time.
Nauru Mansion built in the 70s of the last century
Surprisingly, however, the well-known edifice was transferred to Australia in 2004 to cover its debts due to resource depletion and national profligacy. The country that once became rich once has now seen its situation plummet. The world's smallest island nation now survives on foreign funding, so Nauru is also considered by many to be a servant of Australia.
Like Nauru, many small island states are seeking to buy land in other countries to sustain their viability in response to the threat posed by global warming. According to the survey, since the beginning of the 21st century, only one country has successfully purchased land from other countries, and it is the Pacific island country - Kiribati.
Plagued by the wave of climate change, Kiribati bought land in Fiji
Location map of the island country
Kiribati, located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, consists of 33 large and small islands, and as of June 2022, Kiribati has a population of 120,000, making it one of the world's least developed countries. (From Baidu Encyclopedia)
There are some low-lying atolls on Earth, and island nations facing rising sea levels will be completely submerged by the ocean by the end of the century. Kiribati is one such country. For the people of Kiribati, climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time, as it will greatly disrupt people's normal way of life.
An elderly woman in Kiribati waded through knee-high water that had flooded her house. Photo by Jonas Gratzer from Getty Images
Thankfully, Kiribati has taken action. In 2014, the Kiribati government purchased 20 square kilometers of land for $8.77 million on Vanua, one of the Fiji archipelagos about 2,000 kilometers away.
The land purchased by Kiribati in Fiji in 2014 will now be converted into a farm to help feed the country. Photo by Christopher Parra/The Guardian
Kiribati is also the only known island country that has purchased land abroad for relocation. But to be clear, Kiribati's purchase does not imply sovereignty over the land. It simply purchased a piece of land with a freehold title within Fiji's existing legal framework.
China leads the world in sand blowing and reclamation technology
Since Kiribati resumed diplomatic relations with China on September 20, 2019, the government has sought China's help in the hope of using Chinese technological power to raise the height of the island's land and ensure the future security of the archipelago nation. Author: Is it possible that this solution, which seems to be an alternative to land purchase for immigration, will it be popularized in small island countries in the future?
With the deterioration of the living environment caused by global climate change, many island countries, such as Tuvalu and the Maldives, are also looking to buy land at higher altitudes in response to possible future humanitarian evacuations.
Tuvalu nationals can only immigrate to New Zealand as refugees
As early as the 90s of the last century, small island countries have begun migration = action in order to be forced by the deterioration of their own environment, including the Pacific island country - Tuvalu.
Tuvalu's then Foreign Minister Simon Coffey stood in the sea to address COP26
One in five people in the world's fourth-worst poor country with a population of just 11,000 (2021 data) has left their homes and relocated to larger islands where farmland remains fertile or neighbouring New Zealand. There are media reports that the Tuvalu community in New Zealand has almost tripled since 1996.
The Tuvalu government has considered applying for the purchase of land from countries such as the United States and Australia! It then considered using $100 million in reserves to buy new homes in New Zealand for a small number of people to grow food and prepare for migration.
However, legal and political factors hindered the program! The unforgiving reality is that the vast majority of people in these small island countries who migrate to New Zealand can only live as refugees temporarily! Although the New Zealand Refugee Court began granting these refugees legal residency in 2014, only 75 places are allocated to Tuvalu each year.
According to foreign media reports: In 2019, a Chinese company approached its local government and offered to help with a $400 million artificial island construction plan, but was refused! And this impoverished island country has not yet established diplomatic relations with China. Its foreign policy is also deeply influenced by Western countries such as Australia and the United States!
The tourist resort Maldives faces the same problem
The Maldives is the most climate-vulnerable country in South Asia and bears the brunt of rising sea levels. As in Tuvalu, talk about the possibility of future mass migration to Australia or India has long been present in the lives of people in this country.
The scenic Maldives will also face the threat of rising waters due to its lower altitude
As a globally renowned tourist destination, the Maldives is slightly fortunate compared to ultra-poor countries like Kiribati and Tuvalu. More than a decade ago, the Maldives began using a portion of the country's annual tourism revenue to buy a reserve fund for new homes – as insurance against climate change. In the future, hundreds of thousands of Maldivian people may still become environmental refugees and have to migrate to new homes.
Many small island States are suffering from the same situation
From Tuvalu to Dominica, from the South Pacific to the Caribbean, small island states are at the forefront of climate change. The threats they face are diverse: such as the Marshall Islands and Tuvalu, where rising sea levels are destroying and inundating low-lying areas; Sao Tome and Principe in the Atlantic, Dominica in the Caribbean and Fiji and Vanuatu in the Pacific are experiencing increasingly severe storms.
Small Island Developing States (AOSIS) was created in 1990 to address their collective vulnerability to climate change
Sea level rise has become a serious threat and will continue to worsen over the next three decades. With the loss of homes, roads and other infrastructure, rising sea levels have serious implications for small island states – including jeopardizing their territorial rights, access to resources, and raising questions about migration at home and abroad as residents seek higher status. Adapting to climate change and building resilience to its impacts is becoming increasingly important.
None of this would have happened without climate change. And extreme weather isn't just affecting these small island states! The accelerated melting of Himalayan glaciers caused by global warming will pose a threat to China and the world
Global warming/rising sea levels are a constant reminder of the existential crisis of all mankind
Global mean sea level change (Source: USGCRP)
As early as 2007, the United Nations had already concluded that global sea levels would rise by 20 cm to 60 cm by 2100. Some argue that these figures only count how much the volume of oceans will increase as the world warms up, and the increase in water flow from melting land glaciers. But one important thing is missing: it underestimates the data on the melting of polar ice sheets. (Extension: Scientists discover hidden rivers under Antarctic glaciers nearly 500 kilometers long)
As a result, many believe that UN projections underestimate the imminent changes at sea levels in the world. And many of the data tend to be more extreme: by 2100, sea levels could rise by 1-1.5 meters — enough to spell catastrophe for people at these lower elevations.
Potential scenario for future sea level rise in South Beach, Miami, Florida (2° global temperature rise)
In the future, even if these small island states can safely relocate their citizens elsewhere, they will face new questions: If a country's territory is underwater, is it still a state? The basic criteria for statehood set out in the Montevideo Convention of 1933 and recognized by international law are that a country must have a permanent population, a well-defined territory, a government, and the ability to conduct international relations. What if the territory of one country is submerged under water while the population migrates to another country? So far, there is no answer!
And once one day, more people have to become environmental refugees due to climate and environmental degradation and move to other countries' territories to seek mercy, they may face not only the pain of losing their homes, but also the body under the fence, and these tragic situations may only be truly experienced by themselves!