Official numbers show that almost a third of Tuvaluans are seeking a landmark visa program to live in Australia as climate change threatens their palm-fringed shores, official figures show.
Canberra calls its climate migration accord “the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world” and offers 280 Tuvaluans visas each year.
More than 3,000 Tuvaluans have already entered a ballot for the first batch of visas, according to official figures on the Australian climate change visa program – almost a third of the nation’s population.
Tuvalu is a nation of nine low-lying islands in the central Pacific, about halfway between Australia and Hawaii. With the country’s highest point just 4.5 meters above sea level, it is especially vulnerable to the climate crisis. Tuvalu is home to 10,643 people, according to census figures collected in 2022.
Tuvalu, one of the most climate-vulnerable places on Earth, may become uninhabitable in 80 years, scientists say. The waves have already submerged two of the archipelago’s nine coral atolls.
“Australia recognises the devastating impact climate change is having on the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of climate vulnerable countries and people, particularly in the Pacific region,” the foreign affairs department said.
The two Indo-Pacific countries signed the Falepili Union in 2024 to limit China’s regional expansion. Under the accord, Australia created a Tuvaluan adult visa category.
Official data on the program shows 3,125 Tuvaluans entered the random ballot within four days of it opening last week.
A Pathway for Mobility
“This is the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world, providing a pathway for mobility with dignity as climate impacts worsen,” a spokesperson for Australia’s foreign affairs department said. Registration costs 25 Austral dollars (16 USD), with the ballot closing on 18 July.
“At the same time, it will provide Tuvaluans the choice to live, study and work in Australia,” Australia’s foreign affairs department said.
But it has also fanned fears that nations like Tuvalu could be rapidly drained of skilled professionals and young talent.
University of Sydney geographer John Connell warned that a long-term exodus of workers could imperil Tuvalu’s future.
As Richard Gokrun, a campaigner for Tuvalu’s Climate Action, noted in 2023:
“Migration is not something that they just can think of, and then they just move away, because it involves a lot of money and preparation. We don’t want to be locked up in other people’s countries. Moving away means the dying off of our culture”.
The Falepili Union treaty came into effect on 28th of August 2024, under the terms of the agreement, Australia is now obligated to help Tuvalu when it calls for help to respond to “the devastating impacts of climate change.”
A king tide in Tuvalu in February this year, followed by another one in March, raised questions for Tuvaluans about how long they can keep living in their country.