Riccardo Liguori The archipelago made up of nine coral atolls is struggling with rising sea levels. The Prime Minister will ask the UN for permanent recognition of his maritime borders, opening a debate on the future of the island states
@Canva
The government of Tuvalu will address the United Nations General Assembly in its search for an unprecedented recognition of the maintenance of maritime boundaries in the case of sea level rise completely submerging its territory on September 25th. This bold step would preserve the identity and sovereignty of a nation facing disappearance.
If approved, this historic application would afford Tuvalu control over its huge EEZ, even in the eventual absence of a landmass. The 200-nautical-mile-wide zone from the coast is of prime importance for economic survival as it ensures exclusive rights in fishing and the exploitation of marine resources.
A submerged paradise
At COP26 in 2021, Tuvalu made world headlines as the island nation’s foreign minister, Simon Kofe, prepared a video statement standing knee-deep in seawater to participate virtually in the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.
Tuvalu is nine coral atolls, which make up less than 10 square miles lying in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Besides its exceptional natural beauty, this all makes Tuvalu extremely vulnerable to climate change. The rise in sea levels will gradually corrode its shores, poison freshwater supplies with saltwater, and sink homes.
Satellite images show a grim scenario: Tuvalu’s shores are also getting eaten away in astonishingly fast chunks, while higher tides flood more and more of both the cultivated lands and the residential areas. And the scientific data, at any rate, does not leave much room for doubt: with an average elevation of just 6.5 feet, Tuvalu has seen a sea-level rise of 6 inches over the past three decades-one and a half times the average globally. By 2050, NASA estimates the daily tides will completely flood half of Funafuti, the main atoll and home to 60% of Tuvalu’s population.
Lives on the brink
To the 11,000 inhabitants of Tuvalu, the climate crisis is not some abstract wonder, but a reality that looms over their lives each day. Fukanoe Laafai, a 29-year-old office worker, dreams of marrying and having children someday, but he admits being spooked by so much uncertainty hanging over his future. “I think we’re going to sink,” he told Reuters.
These testimonies from villagers depict a scene of hopelessness. Flooding with saltwater has rendered the soil barren, and the population lives on rainwater tanks and an elevated communal garden for vegetable cultivation. It is very difficult to fish now, as it used to be their primary occupation; this is due to deterioration within the marine ecosystem.
Setting a precedent for the future
That Tuvalu call to the UN is the first-ever challenge to the principles of international law, which automatically turns it into a very important discussion of the fate of island states regarding the changing world. If passed, this would set a legal precedent for other states in similar trouble because of climate change against the loss of their right to exist without a corresponding physical territory.
