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Agence France-Presse

Citizens of the climate-threatened Pacific nation Tuvalu will get “special rights” to live and work in Australia under a landmark treaty unveiled by the two countries on Friday.
Unveiling a compact that includes freedom of movement and defence guarantees, prime ministers Anthony Albanese and Kausea Natano said the two nations would work to tackle climate change, while preparing for the worst.
The treaty would also commit Australia to defend Tuvalu in the case of foreign invasion or natural disaster.
Tuvalu, with a population of just 11,000 people, is among the world’s most vulnerable nations due to rising sea levels.
Two of Tuvalu’s nine atolls have already largely disappeared under the waves, and climate scientists fear the entire archipelago will be entirely uninhabitable within the next 80 years.
Natano said last month that unless drastic action is taken to limit climate change Tuvalu would risk “disappearing from the surface of this Earth”.
Climate, inequality dim hopes of brighter future across Asia-Pacific: UN report
The Australia-Tuvalu treaty would work to allow Tuvaluans to “thrive in their territory and retain Tuvalu’s deep, ancestral connections to land and sea”.
But there is also an acknowledgement that action has not come fast enough, and the impact of climate change is already being felt.
“At the same time, we believe the people of Tuvalu deserve the choice to live, study and work elsewhere, as climate change impacts worsen,” a joint statement said.
“Australia has committed to provide a special pathway for citizens of Tuvalu to come to Australia, with access to Australian services that will enable human mobility with dignity.”
Australia will create a special visa for up to 280 Tuvaluans annually and funds will also be provided for land reclamation in Tuvalu to expand land in capital Funafuti by around 6 per cent.


Australia’s economic reliance on coal and gas exports has long been a point of friction with its many Pacific neighbours, who face massive economic and social costs from wilder weather and rising sea levels.
The pact is likely to be seen as a significant strategic win for Australia, which is competing with China to cement its influence in the Pacific region.
While Solomon Islands and Kiribati in recent years switched their diplomatic allegiances to Beijing, Tuvalu has remained steadfast in its recognition of Taiwan.
Prime Minister Natano said the treaty stood as a “beacon of hope” and a “giant leap forward” in the quest for regional stability.
The pact will have to be ratified by each country before coming into effect.


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Australia

Australia to offer Tuvalu citizens climate refuge in landmark deal

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (left) and Tuvalu leader Kausea Natano shake hands after attending the Pacific Islands Forum in Aitutaki, Cook Islands, on Thursday. Photo: AAP Image via AP

More attention at COP28 urged for ‘vulnerable’ mountain range spanning Nepal, China, India

Pema Gyamtsho, Director General of ICIMOD. Photo: Bibek Bhandari

A child swims through a flooded street after Yamuna River overflowed due to monsoon rains in New Delhi. From record-breaking heatwaves to floods and landslides, the Hindu Kush Himalaya region has witnessed some of the worst climate-related disasters in recent memory. Photo: AFP

The western Himalayas in Nepal. Known as the “pulse of the planet”, the Hindu Kush Himalaya region spans 3,500km (2,175 miles) across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. Photo: Shutterstock

Pema Gyamtsho, director general of Nepal-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. Photo: Bibek Bhandari

People in India’s New Delhi row a boat past a flooded street after the Yamuna River overflowed from monsoon rains. Photo: AFP

Indonesia to bank on G7 investment deal to make huge emission savings, in boost for green transition

Smoke rises from the chimneys of a coal-fired power plant in Cilegon in September. Indonesia was the world’s ninth-largest source of CO2 emissions in 2021 according to data from the European Commission. Photo: AFP

A security guard stands at Larona hydroelectric plant in Sorowako, Indonesia, in September. Photo: AP

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in Beijing on October 18. Photo: TNS

The Himalayan farmers paying the price for climate change: ‘I’ve never seen this kind of weather’

A farmer shows how leaves of a Chinese cabbage have sprawled out rather than remaining tightly packed amid temperature changes. Photo: Biman Mukherji 

Landslides triggered by intense rains during the monsoon season have caused a shower of rocks and boulders across an arterial highway connecting India’s Himachal Pradesh state capital Shimla to Chandigarh, the state capital of the northern state of Punjab. Photo: Biman Mukherji

Veenu, wife of farmer Vipin Kumar, shows how leaves of a Chinese cabbage have sprawled out rather than remaining tightly packed even inside a greenhouse. Photo: Biman Mukherji

Rajnish Thakur shows how flower buds dropped off prematurely inside protective glasshouses as cloudy skies blocked off sunlight followed by an unseasonably warm spell in October. Photo: Biman Mukherji

People row a boat past a flooded street after Yamuna River overflowed due to monsoon rains in New Delhi in July. Photo: AFP

Asia-Pacific growth stymied by ‘volatile’ combination of climate crisis, inequality: UN report

Pregnant women and mothers wait for their turn to see an Auxiliary Nurse Midwife health worker at a state-run rural health centre in a village in India. Gender equality also saw its worst slump in two decades, with ‘stark gender biases’ still prevailing across the region, especially for women in poor households. Photo: AFP

A man rides a motorcycle in a slum in Manila. While the Asia-Pacific is forecast to contribute to two-thirds of global economic growth this year, it is “not on track” to achieve any of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals by the 2030 deadline. Photo: dpa

A local farmer forcibly harvests rice amid a long drought in Indonesia. Photo: EPA-EFE

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The treaty would also commit Australia to defend the Pacific island in the case of foreign invasion or natural disaster
Tuvalu, with a population of just 11,000 people, is among the world’s most vulnerable nations due to rising sea levels


The treaty would also commit Australia to defend the Pacific island in the case of foreign invasion or natural disaster.


Australia to offer Tuvalu citizens climate refuge in landmark deal

The treaty would also commit Australia to defend the Pacific island in the case of foreign invasion or natural disaster Tuvalu, with a population of just 11,000 people, is among the world’s most vulnerable nations due to rising sea levels

The treaty would also commit Australia to defend the Pacific island in the case of foreign invasion or natural disaster

Tuvalu, with a population of just 11,000 people, is among the world’s most vulnerable nations due to rising sea levels