Tuvalu PM Feleti Penitala Teo’s quest to future-proof his nation against climate change

When the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, the Hon Feleti Penitala Teo, spoke to a crowd at the Lowitja O’Donoghue Cultural Centre at ANU he was frank about the threat of climate change to his nation’s survival.

“The grave injustice or irony of the threat of climate change is that climate change is not of our making, but it will certainly remake us,” Prime Minister Feleti said.

Rising sea levels induced by climate change are expected to flood more than 50 per cent of Tuvalu’s land territory by 2050. By 2100, 90 per cent of the low-lying atoll nation’s land territory may suffer the same fate.

“Those are frightening and dooming forecasts, and I hope like hell that they are wrong,” Prime Minister Feleti said.

“But the evidence is, unfortunately, very clear as daylight. Climate change and climate change induced sea level rise is no longer a speculative future scenario; it is happening right now.”

Good neighbours

Prime Minister Feleti said climate change was a daily and lived experience for people in Tuvalu and spoke about his efforts to address the threat of rising sea levels.

“Tuvalu is sparing no weapons to future-proof the integrity and equitability of its land territory to ensure that Tuvalu survives as a nation and that our people will continue to enjoy a way of life that they are accustomed to,” he said.

A major point of interest was the Falepili Union Treaty, named after the values of falepili such as “a commitment to care for, share with and protect each other”. Signed last August, the treaty is a first-of-its-kind commitment between Australia and Tuvalu in areas including climate cooperation, migration pathways and a security guarantee.

“The Falepili Treaty is now the only such treaty that Australia has with any country in the Pacific, and it is also the only such treaty Tuvalu has with any other country,” Prime Minister Feleti said.

In particular, the treaty “serves as a platform for cooperation between the two countries on climate actions and to hold each other accountable for our actions or non-actions on climate actions.”

Prime Minister Feleti hoped it could act as a legal precedent, even if on a bilateral level, to secure legal recognition of its future statehood in the face of rising sea levels.

And while he acknowledged some details are still being finalised, the climate migration scheme, which will allow 280 Tuvaluans to resettle in Australia on permanent resident visas annually, has begun taking applications.

Last week’s landmark advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which says nations that fail to prevent climate harm could be liable for compensation and restitution, also got a mention.

“Tuvalu welcomes this judicial advisory opinion, which Tuvalu and others will use in our continued advocacy to future proof our statehood and sovereignty and the permanency of our maritime boundary,” Prime Minister Feleti said.

“The advisory opinions are a significant achievement, moving the conversation from political commitments to legally binding obligations.”

Prime Minister Feleti also spoke about the Tuvalu Coastal Adaption Project, which aims to reclaim land from rising sea levels, and international efforts to ensure maritime zones are registered, demarcated and unaffected by climate-related changes in island landmass.

An alumnus returns

While the topic was serious in tone, there were still moments of humour and hope throughout Prime Minister Feleti’s address.

The ANU Pasifika Student Association presented Prime Minister Feleti, the Vice-Chancellor and other distinguished guests with a garland in welcome.

“I can assure you that no one is getting married this afternoon,” Prime Minister Feleti joked.

The speech at ANU also represented 30 years since he was on campus as a postgraduate student.

“After my time here at the ANU, I returned to Tuvalu with a Masters of Law degree, majoring in public laws,” he said.

“I also happened to carry back with me to Tuvalu a trophy in the form of our third child and son who was born here … in November 1995, so my family has a deep emotional connection with Canberra and the University.”

Prime Minister Feleti’s trip to campus also coincided with the opening of a new Tuvalu High Commission to Australia, which he said signified the two nations’ renewed and elevated relationship. The Prime Minister acknowledged his nation’s enduring connections to ANU.

“Tuvalu has had a long and close affiliation with the University,” Prime Minister Feleti said. “Apart from myself, I know of another current minister, present and former ambassadors, and our commissioners, and other senior government officials who also studied here at the University.

“I hope we can continue to maintain that relationship well into the future.”