Tuvalu

• 12 Aug 2025

Source: TOI 

In a historic first, Tuvalu is set to relocate its population to Australia under the Falepili Union Treaty (2023), marking the world’s first planned migration due to climate change-induced sea-level rise. 

• Falepili Union Treaty: Australia will accept 280 Tuvaluans annually as permanent residents through a ballot-based “climate visa” starting in 2025, granting them equal rights to health care, education, housing, and jobs. 
  • Residents may return if conditions improve, though worsening floods and storms make this unlikely. 
• Reason for Migration: Rising sea levels threaten Tuvalu’s existence, with NASA predicting submergence of most of its land by 2050. 
  • Tuvalu's average elevation is only 2 meters above sea level, making the nation highly prone to floods, storms, and coastal erosion. 

Tuvalu  

• Formerly known as the Ellice Islands, Tuvalu is a Polynesian island country located midway between Hawaii and Australia in the South Pacific Ocean. It comprises nine islands (four reef islands and five coral atolls). 
  • Tuvalu, with Funafuti as its capital, gained independence from the United Kingdom in October 1978. 
• With no rivers, it has a tropical climate and one of the smallest populations in the world, around 11,000.  
• Tuvalu, a United Nations designated Least Developed Country, has a public sector–dominated economy supported by fishing licences.  
• The Tuvalu Trust Fund, set up with contributions from Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Japan, and South Korea, provides financial stability and funds development projects such as upgrading schools and fisheries centres. 

Read more: Tuvalu's Fight Against Rising Sea Levels