Latest news with #climatevisa
The Guardian
25-07-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Bateteba left what once felt like ‘the safest place in the world' to build a life in Australia. Thousands hope to follow
Bateteba Aselu describes her former life in Tuvalu as like living in the 'safest place in the world' where the community looked out for each other, there was no homelessness and you rarely heard the sirens of police or ambulances. But rising sea levels and extreme weather have created such an immediate existential threat to the tiny South Pacific island nation that when a new visa lottery to migrate to Australia closed last Friday, 8,750 people in 2,474 family groups – more than 80% of Tuvalu's population of 11,000 residents – had applied for the world's first 'climate visas'. 'The impact of climate change about two decades ago has become such a significant challenge to people's livelihoods,' says Aselu, who is doing a PhD in climate change at the University of Melbourne, focusing on small island states. She is one of those who has applied for the visa. The new visa allows 280 Tuvaluans to move to Australia annually, part of the Falepili Union treaty signed in November 2023, which also included a security pact and $150m in new commitments to improve livelihoods in Tuvalu. Aselu moved to Australia four years ago on a student visa. With her husband and two children, she lives in Melton South in Melbourne's northern suburbs, part of a small Tuvaluan community of just a few hundred – a figure set to grow dramatically as the new climate visa arrivals flow into Australia. Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads Although the Australian High Commission in Tuvalu has been sharing promotional videos on social media to prepare people for the realities of life in Australia, Aselu says the transition is not easy. Four years in, adjusting to Australian life has been 'quite a challenging journey' for Aselu and her family, she says. 'It is a lot to take in and a process that requires time ... having the social network from families, colleagues from school and supervisors as well as spiritual space are crucial for us.' Despite the challenges, Asulu is confident Tuvaluan culture will 'persist no matter where we land or where we go'. 'We are collective and communal and we adapt as we go through this life. Already we have young people who are making waves in working to maintain and preserve our culture from technology to revival of Indigenous knowledge learning in school and community. That is hope for me and for my children and those after them,' she says. Frayzel Uale and his family are also part of the Tuvaluan community in Melton and among those who applied for the visa. Uale moved to Australia four years ago with his parents and is studying a certificate III in information technology. Uale says he doesn't want to move back to Tuvalu to live as he has memories of the extreme weather there frightening him as a child. 'Before they started the programs informing us about climate change, I remember waking up with water on the roads and [in] community buildings when the king tides would come on to the land – it was shocking.' Sign up to Five Great Reads Each week our editors select five of the most interesting, entertaining and thoughtful reads published by Guardian Australia and our international colleagues. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Saturday morning after newsletter promotion He now sees his future in Australia, where he has the opportunity to get a job, earn money and access everything he needs. But he says the small Tuvaluan community he is part of is actively working to protect and preserve his culture with 'regular community events and gatherings'. 'The older generation is keeping cultural life alive and the younger generation is willing to learn. We practise our culture of traditional dancing and singing to ensure the culture will survive here. We will 100% protect our culture here in Australia.' For Leni Malua-Mataka, a Tuvaluan mother living with her husband and children in Mount Isa in north-west Queensland, the new climate visa offers an opportunity to get ahead. 'Coming from such a small country with very limited employment opportunities and few ways to grow wealth or even provide for your family, this opportunity to work, live and raise your family in Australia is a dream,' she says. 'We already have well-established small Tuvaluan communities here in Australia that are more than willing to help, as is our custom.' A spokesperson for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said a range of support services would be made available to help new visa holders, including briefings on life in Australia, financial and digital literacy training and connecting visa holders with potential employment. Jane McAdam, professor of law at the University of New South Wales, says although the majority of the population applied, that shouldn't be read as everyone on Tuvalu wanting to leave due to the climate crisis. 'I think it's more that this visa opens up all sorts of possibilities for schooling and for work – and provides a safety net even if people do want to stay in Tuvalu,' she says. While recognising the merit of the Falepili Union treaty to allow people from Tuvalu the chance to migrate with dignity, Mahealani Delaney, Pacific community engagement coordinator at Greenpeace Australia, says the climate visa needs to be considered in context. 'Australia continues to produce and export coal, oil and gas, fuelling the climate crisis that is causing people to leave their homelands. It simply is not enough to offer up a solution while ignoring the issue. The most meaningful action that Australia can take is to address the root problem: rapidly and fairly phase out fossil fuels, including no new coalmines and no new dirty gas.' Malua-Mataka says on her recent visits to Tuvalu she noticed areas around the capital Funafuti where the sea has risen on the lagoon side, which was never the case when she was growing up. 'The impact can be very emotional to talk about especially when I think of my family still living in Tuvalu who face these issues on a daily basis. The impacts far exceed the physical environmental issues. It impacts our government, our global status and most alarmingly, it impacts our future as a nation.'
News.com.au
23-07-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Over 80 per cent of Tuvalu seeks Australian climate visa as rising seas lap at nation's shores
The number of applications for a landmark climate visa to live in Australia are rising rapidly in the tiny island nation of Tuvalu, as ominously rising seas lap at its shores. More than 80 per cent of Pacific nation Tuvalu's population is now seeking refuge Down Under. Australia is offering visas to Tuvalu citizens each year under a climate migration deal Canberra has billed as 'the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world'. 'We received extremely high levels of interest in the ballot with 8,750 registrations, which includes family members of primary registrants,' the Australian high commission in Tuvalu said in a statement. The figure is equal to 82 per cent of the country's 10,643 population, according to census figures collected in 2022. 'With 280 visas offered this program year, it means that many will miss out,' the commission said. One of the most climate-threatened corners of the planet, scientists fear Tuvalu will be uninhabitable within the next 80 years. Two of the archipelago's nine coral atolls have already largely disappeared under the waves. The figures were released hours before a landmark decision by the world's top court in The Hague laying out what legal obligations countries have to prevent climate change and whether polluters should pay up for the consequences. The case, which has been brought by Pacific nations, could reshape climate justice, with major impacts on laws around the world. 'First agreement of its kind' Australia and Tuvalu signed the groundbreaking Falepili Union in 2024, part of Canberra's efforts to blunt China's expanding reach in the region. Under that pact, Australia opened a new visa category specially set aside for citizens of Tuvalu who will be selected at random. '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,' Australia's foreign affairs department told AFP last month. 'This is the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world, providing a pathway for mobility with dignity as climate impacts worsen.' It will also provide Tuvaluans the choice to live, study and work in Australia. Tuvalu citizens, including those living outside the country, were eligible to be included in the ballot if they are aged over 18 and pay a A$25 fee (US$16). The visa deal has been hailed as a landmark response to the looming challenge of climate-forced migration. The Falepili pact commits Australia to defending Tuvalu in the face of natural disasters, health pandemics and 'military aggression'. 'For the first time, there is a country that has committed legally to come to the aid of Tuvalu, upon request, when Tuvalu encounters a major natural disaster, a health pandemic or military aggression,' Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo said at the time. 'Again, for the first time there is a country that has committed legally to recognise the future statehood and sovereignty of Tuvalu despite the detrimental impact of climate changed-induced sea level rise.' The agreement also gives Australia a say in any other defence pacts Tuvalu signs with other countries, raising concerns at the time that the Pacific nation was handing over its sovereignty. Tuvalu is one of just 12 states that still have formal diplomatic relations with Taipei rather than Beijing. — with Brendan Kearns, AFP
France 24
23-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
More than 80% of Tuvalu citizens apply for world-first Australian climate visa
More than 80 percent of Pacific nation Tuvalu 's population is seeking a landmark climate visa to live in Australia as rising seas lap at its shores, official figures showed Wednesday. Australia is offering visas to Tuvalu citizens each year under a climate migration deal Canberra has billed as "the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world". "We received extremely high levels of interest in the ballot with 8,750 registrations, which includes family members of primary registrants," the Australian high commission in Tuvalu said in a statement. The figure is equal to 82 percent of the country's 10,643 population, according to census figures collected in 2022. "With 280 visas offered this program year, it means that many will miss out," the commission said. One of the most climate-threatened corners of the planet, scientists fear Tuvalu will be uninhabitable within the next 80 years. Two of the archipelago's nine coral atolls have already largely disappeared under the waves. The figures were released hours before a landmark decision by the world's top court in The Hague laying out what legal obligations countries have to prevent climate change and whether polluters should pay up for the consequences. The case, which has been brought by Pacific nations, could reshape climate justice, with major impacts on laws around the world. 'First agreement of its kind' Australia and Tuvalu signed the groundbreaking Falepili Union in 2024, part of Canberra's efforts to blunt China 's expanding reach in the region. Under that pact, Australia opened a new visa category specially set aside for citizens of Tuvalu who will be selected at random. "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," Australia's foreign affairs department told AFP last month. "This is the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world, providing a pathway for mobility with dignity as climate impacts worsen." It will also provide Tuvaluans the choice to live, study and work in Australia. Tuvalu citizens, including those living outside the country, were eligible to be included in the ballot if they are aged over 18 and pay a Aus$25 fee (US$16). The visa deal has been hailed as a landmark response to the looming challenge of climate-forced migration. The Falepili pact commits Australia to defending Tuvalu in the face of natural disasters, health pandemics and "military aggression". "For the first time, there is a country that has committed legally to come to the aid of Tuvalu, upon request, when Tuvalu encounters a major natural disaster, a health pandemic or military aggression," Tuvalu Prime Minister Feleti Teo said at the time. "Again, for the first time there is a country that has committed legally to recognise the future statehood and sovereignty of Tuvalu despite the detrimental impact of climate changed-induced sea level rise." The agreement also gives Australia a say in any other defence pacts Tuvalu signs with other countries, raising concerns at the time that the Pacific nation was handing over its sovereignty. Tuvalu is one of just 12 states that still have formal diplomatic relations with Taipei rather than Beijing.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
One third of island's population apply for world's first climate visa
More than one third of the population of Tuvalu have begun the process of applying for the world's first climate visa. Amid fears that the Polynesian island could become uninhabitable within 80 years, the new visa will allow 280 Tuvalu nationals to live, work, and study in Australia each year. A secret ballot will select the 280 residents over the age of 18 every year—meaning that even the applicants who have already applied, might have to wait another 10 years before their visa is granted. Although the words climate change are not included in the visa itself, Professor Jane McAdam explains that the, 'treaty pursuant to which [the visa] was created is framed very much around the existential threat that climate change poses in our region.' When Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the treaty in 2023, he noted that the agreement 'reflects Tuvalu's special circumstances as a low-lying nation that's particularly impacted … by the threat of climate change.' The Prime Minister of Tuvalu has welcomed the visa scheme, but has continued to urge Australia to do far more to address the impacts of climate change. More than one-third of the population of Tuvalu have begun the process of applying for the world's first climate visa amid fears that the Polynesian island could become uninhabitable within 80 years. The new visa will allow 280 Tuvalu nationals to live, work and study in Australia each year. A secret ballot will select the 280 residents over the age of 18. Every year, meaning that even the applicants who have already applied might have to wait another 10 years before their visa is granted. Although the words climate change are not included in the visa itself, Professor Jane McAdam explains that the treaty pursuant to which the visa was created is framed very much around the existential threat that climate change poses in our region. When Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the treaty in 2023, he noted that the agreement reflects Tuvalu's special circumstances as a low-lying nation that's particularly impacted by the threat of climate change. The Prime Minister of Tuvalu has welcomed the visa scheme but has continued to urge Australia to do far more to address the impacts of climate change.
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
People on sinking Tuvalu seek Australia's climate visas
More than one-third of the people in the tiny Pacific nation of Tuvalu, which scientists predict will be submerged by rising seas, have applied for a landmark climate visa to migrate to Australia. Tuvalu's ambassador to the United Nations, Tapugao Falefou, told Reuters on Sunday he was "startled by the huge number of people vying for this opportunity", and the small community was interested to learn who the first lot of climate migrants would be. Tuvalu, one of the countries at greatest risk from climate change, which experts say is boosting sea levels, has a population of 11,000 on its nine atolls scattered across the Pacific between Australia and Hawaii. Since applications for Australia's visa lottery opened this month, 1124 people have registered, with family members bringing the total seeking the visa to 4052 under the bilateral climate and security treaty. Applications close on July 18, with an annual cap of 280 visas designed to ensure migration to Australia does not cause brain drain from Tuvalu, officials said when the treaty was announced in 2023. The visa will allow Tuvalu residents to live, work and study in Australia, accessing health benefits and education on the same basis as Australian citizens. "Moving to Australia under the Falepili Union treaty will in some way provide additional remittance to families staying back," Falefou said. By 2050, NASA scientists project daily tides will submerge half the main atoll of Funafuti, home to 60 per cent of Tuvalu's residents, where villagers cling to a strip of land as narrow as 20 metres. That forecast assumes a one-metre rise in sea levels, while the worst case, double that, would put 90 per cent of Funafuti under water. Tuvalu, whose mean elevation is just two metres, has experienced a sea-level rise of 15cm over the past three decades, one-and-a-half times the global average. It has built seven hectares of artificial land, and is planning more, which it hopes will stay above the tides until 2100.
