Due to climate change, it was necessary to begin relocating residents of an entire country to Australia

Pacific nation Tuvalu at risk of sinking due to rising sea levels

Deal to resettle climate-change-hit residents of Pacific nation Tuvalu shows world “what's at stake,” European officials say . German and EU officials say the agreement between Australia and the island country should spur global emissions cuts.

Photo: Global Look Press

Australia's proposal to grant residency to citizens from the low-lying Pacific country of Tuvalu should push the world to sharply cut emissions, two senior European officials have said.

According to The Guardian, Germany's climate envoy Jennifer Morgan said the deal «makes very clear what's at stake» as negotiators prepare for the UN climate summit next month, adding that «all countries must expand their ambitions for 2030.”

The message was echoed by senior European Union official Koen Doens, who said the climate crisis was putting Pacific island countries under increasing pressure and more urgent action was “absolutely necessary.”

The comments follow the Australian government's announcement that it will give up to 280 people from Tuvalu access to rights to live, work and study each year under a new treaty that also closely links the two countries on security.

The deal comes in recognition that Tuvalu, a country of nine low-lying islands about halfway between Australia and Hawaii, is particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels.

But Australia has also pledged to fund coastal adaptation projects, including land reclamation work around the capital Funafuti, to help as many of Tuvalu's 11,200 citizens as possible “remain in their homes safely and with dignity.”

Speaking to The Guardian on the sidelines of the Cook Islands Pacific summit where the deal was announced, Morgan says the news has “attracted attention” in Germany.

“What I heard back from non-climate-scientist friends in Germany was that they were very saddened by the fact that a country like Tuvalu had to think about where their people might have to go,” says Morgan.

She called for “an even greater focus on reducing emissions to avoid this so people can stay in their homes.”

Morgan stresses that the world must not give up goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, saying it is “a matter of life and death for many people here in this region.”

Koen Doens, director general of the European Commission for International Partnerships, said the agreement between Australia and Tuvalu was “a very effective agreement.”

“We all know what is happening with some of the islands in the Pacific. We know what is happening to Tuvalu,” he told The Guardian. “Stress is increasing for people living on the islands.”

Doens also called for “a more ambitious climate change mitigation program than what we see from the global community.”

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who also visited the Cook Islands, told reporters that the climate crisis is having a “disproportionate impact on the Pacific island nations.”

Asked if the agreement between Australia and Tuvalu was a sign of things to come, she said: “We've already seen these movements happening, not just here in the Pacific but around the world. We see environmental migration if you just look at the situation in the Sahel, where you see people moving across the Mediterranean. So Australia's statement, I think, is a positive response to this movement.”

The comments came after the Pacific Islands Forum (Pif), whose 18 members include Australia and New Zealand, concluded its most important annual political summit. Although many Pacific Island leaders wanted to explicitly call for a fossil fuel phase-out, the final communiqué contained caveats that were seen to be heavily influenced by Australia.

Cook Islands Prime Minister and presenter summit, Mark Brown confirmed that leaders were “committed” to phasing out fossil fuels, while acknowledging that the path “is not immediate and does not suit everyone.”

The summit also rejected calls from a group of former Pacific leaders. make Australia's bid to jointly host the 2026 UNC climate summit conditional on the cessation of new coal and gas development.