G8 Take Note: Tuvalu Climate Change's Global Face

As the leaders of the G8 summit in Heiligendamm in Germany hammered the final communiqué on climate change, half a world away, in the small Pacific island country of Tuvalu, Sialafaga Talua, a born and bred islander pondered her shaky future on the islands, as she has always done again and again.

Salafaga Talua has a difficult decision on her hands, to either pack her bags and leave Tuvalu for safer territories or stay and watch her country slowly sink under the rising sea levels in the Pacific and hope for the best. Scientific predictions from the Australian Government predict dire consequences for the island in the next 50 years. Other predictions say it could be sooner. So for Salafaga, both issues are not easy to deal with , but she is increasingly aware that something has got to give.

Her trepidation is real, and is shared by most of the 10000 Tuvaluans who still reside on the Island. In 1997 census figures showed a population of 13000. Today, 10 years later, the population of Tuvalu has gone down by 3000, or almost 25 percent down from the previous figure.

Tuvaluans, who are worried about the future, have been leaving their island for other Pacific states like Fiji and New Zealand. The New Zealand Government has a scheme entitled Pacific Access Category or PAC that allows up to 75 Tuvaluans per year to settle in New Zealand as Climate Changed refugees.

In the last few years press headlines in different parts of the world have highlighted Tuvalu’s plight . The Guardian of London had a doomsday story headlined ‘Farewell Tuvalu’ on 29 October 2001. Since then there has a number of other equally doomsday stories with headlines like ‘Tuvalu –Going Down’ –again in the Guardian, in Feb 2002, and ‘Tuvalu is drowning’ on salon.com on 31 March 2006.This small island nation in the South Pacific Ocean , area 26 SQ Metres and population 10000 people has become the living proof of the consequences of global warming and scientific predictions says Tuvalu is likely to completely disappear under water in less than 50 years.

Taula Kapea, the Scientific Officer and Acting Director of the Department Meteorological Department in Tuvalu says the weather conditions in Tuvalu have started getting harsher with the intensity and number of cyclones increasing every year. When not raining, the strange weather phenomenon has seen some prolonged droughts during the dry season, he says. This has become a cause for concern.

“ The people are scared and worried about the harsh weather conditions. Such things have never happened before”, he said. The result of this is that some people are now leaving Tuvalu, and settling in other Pacific nations as Climate Change Refugees. “ Some of the people who area leaving Tuvalu are renting out their houses and leasing their land to the Government or to small companies”, he says.

As for himself, his commitment is with Tuvalu and with his employer, the Government and says he has no plans to leave and that he will stay behind. The greatest fear of migrating to another country , as far as he is concerned, is the loss of identity, loss of culture, language and everything that is Tuvaluan. He says this is the fear that everyone else on the island has, particularly the elders.

When I put the same question to Salafaga Laula who is a radio journalist for Radio Tuvalu, and asked her whether she would consider relocating, Salafaga told me, “I am not proud to say so, but I would relocate” She elaborated by saying “ If I relocate I lose my culture, my identity and language.”

In the same vein, she expresses her fear of an uncertain future of the island and expresses a strong desire to create a global awareness of the predicament her country is in and the consequences of global warming. She tells me of plans by an NGO called Overview, run by Shuuichi Endou, to plublish a book where photos of all the 10000 Tuvuluans will be published alongside interviews laying out the people’s concerns and opinions about Climate Change.

In the past , Tuvalu has threatened to sue Australia and the United States which it accused of being the major emitters of environmental greenhouse gases which causes climate change. Tuvalu wanted Australia and the United States to compensate them for the damage caused by greenhouse emissions. The litigation only stopped when the leadership of the country changed in 2005.

Lalua is convinced that climate change is happening now and that the signs are for everyone to see. Her recollection of weather patterns from previous years is sharp. Several years ago, she says, high tides would only flood small parts of the islands in February and March. In recent years, she says tides have been hitting the islands beyond March and April and well into May as was the case this year. She says the famous king tide which floods the airstrip, or the airport used to happen only for a brief period in the year. Flooding now lasts much longer, she says. Tourists, particularly film crews flock into the country this time of the year to take photos.

Back to the G8 Summit’s Leaders final communiqué on climate change , described on the G8 website as “ A Breakthrough In Climate Change- Leading industrialized nations agree to at least half global CO2 emissions by 2050.”.

While this may be a major political step , it is cold comfort to islanders like Tuvaluans who are witnessing freak weather conditions and some of whom are in the process of abandoning their homes, culture , tradition and simple island life to go and settle in bigger societies. Germany’s Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul is on record as saying: “The people who will suffer most from climate change are those who had the least to do with causing it, people in the poorest developing countries, Africa ,small island nations in the South Pacific, and heavily populated river deltas in Asia will be particularly hard hit.” It seems Tuvaluans are now paying the price.

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