The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the island state of Tuvalu, located in Oceania, Simon Kofe, said that in case of flooding of the state, residents will be forced to move.
The authorities of Tuvalu consider the worst (and most probable) scenario of the development of events due to global warming - it is expected that in the next ten years the territory of the island will be completely flooded by the world ocean and will be unfit for life.
According to the authorities, in this case, Tuvalu will become the first state in the world to relocate due to climate disasters. About five thousand residents of Tuvalu have already moved to New Zealand. "At the moment, this is approximately 50% of the total population of our state," Kofe said.
The problem is that there are no free "no man's" islands to which Tuvalu could move - and no one from other island states is willing to give part of their territory to their neighbors.
The country has already started preparing for a similar situation — the authorities are trying to regulate the issue from the standpoint of international law.
"We are trying to come up with a way for countries to recognize Tuvalu, even if we lose our territory. We are looking for legal opportunities with the help of which we can preserve our ownership of our maritime zones, preserve our recognition as a state in accordance with international law. We are also discussing technologies that will help us create a digital nation, so that we can continue to act together, even if we are in another place," the minister noted.
As one of the municipalities in Tuvalu, they plan to digitize all processes so that residents can receive services online.
The Minister of Tuvalu became famous after his speech at the conference and the appearance of a photo on the Internet in which he, dressed in a business suit, is standing knee-deep in water. The shots were taken on the island of Fongafale, where the capital of the state is located. Thus, the authorities of Tuvalu wanted to draw attention to the problem of changing the level of the world ocean due to climate.
