New life in the metaverse: how climate change affects the Tuvaluans

Tuvalu is an island country located in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the South Pacific, the region whose islets soon would be heavily submerged by rising sea levels, droughts, and temperature increases due to disastrous climate change.

This issue was brought up many times during the COP, especially at the 26th session last year, when Tuvalu’s representatives stressed the urge for definitive joint action.

At the Nov. 15 COP27 meeting, Simon Kofe, the Minister for Justice, Communication and Foreign Affairs at the Government of Tuvalu, stated that the nation is searching for alternative ways to preserve memory and heritage, which is also an issue of the sovereignty of the country. During the past year, the government made the decision. Tuvalu is emerging as the world’s first digital nation.

Simon Kofe says in his COP27 speech: “Piece by piece, we’ll preserve our country, provide solace to our people, and remind our children and grandchildren what our home once was.”

The minister added: “This is also a matter of sovereignty. We in Tuvalu are taking bold steps to ensure that our Statehood and our maritime boundaries are permanently maintained despite extreme land loss due to climate change and sea levels rise.”

Up to 40% of the nation’s capital area is underwater at high tide, and the entire country will be submerged by the end of this century.

Although Tuvalu will be the first state to recreate itself in the metaverse, other countries, such as the Caribbean island nation of Barbados, which has opened an embassy in Decentraland, have already begun exploring the digital space.