Sea-level rise
Is Tuvalu sinking?
What the data show about the rising sea, the land-growth study, and life on low ground.
Climate & Oceans
Living with a rising sea
King tides already flood parts of Funafuti, and salt water is reaching the pits where pulaka, the staple root crop, is grown. Rising seas threaten the land the nation stands on.
COP26
Minister Kofe’s video statement: COP26
In November 2021 Simon Kofe, then Tuvalu’s Foreign Minister, recorded this statement for the COP26 climate summit while standing in the sea at Funafuti.
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Priorities
What Tuvalu is asking for
- Keep 1.5°C within reach. Rapid, deep cuts in emissions by every major economy. For an atoll nation, every tenth of a degree is measured in lost land.
- Finance that reaches islands. Adaptation and loss-and-damage finance designed for small administrations: simple to access, predictable, and at scale.
- Statehood that endures. Recognition that Tuvalu’s statehood, maritime boundaries and people endure, whatever happens to the land.
- Dignified climate mobility. Rights-based pathways for people who choose to move, as set out in the Global Principles for Addressing Climate Mobility.
- A COP for the Oceans. A dedicated process so that warming, acidification and sea-level rise get the sustained attention they demand.
- Clean seas. An end to the plastic pollution and destructive practices that degrade the reefs Tuvaluans depend on.
Protecting Tuvalu’s ocean
A small country with a very large sea
Tuvalu’s maritime zone covers about 750,000 square kilometres, nearly 30,000 times its land area. Its fish are one of the country’s main sources of income, and its seabed is drawing new interest. The Ambassador works on three threats to it.
Illegal fishing
Fishing without a licence, or outside the rules, takes income and food from Tuvalu and damages tuna stocks the whole region depends on. Tuvalu works with its neighbours and partners to detect and stop it.
Ghost ships
Vessels operating in and around Tuvalu’s waters outside the rules that keep the ocean safe and lawful are a growing menace for small maritime States with limited means to patrol their seas.
Seabed mining
Proposals to mine the deep seabed raise hard questions for island nations about ocean health, fisheries and who benefits. The Ambassador coordinates discussions among island States to reach a common position.
Adaptation
How Tuvalu is adapting
Raising land, protecting its statehood in law, giving people choices and taking its case to the world’s courts.
- 2022The Future Now ProjectAnnounced at COP27: a digital nation that preserves Tuvalu’s land, culture and governance online, whatever the physical future holds.
- 2023Statehood in the ConstitutionTuvalu amended its Constitution to affirm that its statehood is permanent and its maritime zones remain, regardless of climate change.
- 2023The Falepili UnionA treaty with Australia, in force since 2024, pairing a security commitment with a special pathway for Tuvaluans to live, work and study in Australia.
- 2025The ICJ advisory opinionOn 23 July the International Court of Justice set out the obligations of States on climate change. Pacific nations led the campaign to bring the question before the Court.
- NowBuilding higher groundUnder the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project, elevated land is being reclaimed on Funafuti to protect homes and services from storm surges.
Tuvalu supports the Global Principles for Addressing Climate Mobility, adopted at the Berlin Climate Mobility Forum in June 2026.
Explainers
The questions people ask about Tuvalu and the sea
Treaty
The Falepili Union
The Tuvalu–Australia treaty that offers a choice to move, with rights intact.
Statehood
Tuvalu’s digital nation
How Tuvalu is protecting its statehood, records and culture for the long term.
Quick answers
Questions people ask
How is climate change affecting Tuvalu?
Sea level at Funafuti rose about 14 cm between 1993 and 2024. King tides flood low ground more often, salt water reaches the pits where pulaka is grown, groundwater turns brackish, and storms erode the shore. Tuvalu’s highest natural point is only about 4.6 metres above the sea.
What did the International Court of Justice say about climate change?
In a unanimous advisory opinion delivered on 23 July 2025, the ICJ found that States have legal obligations under international law to protect the climate system from greenhouse gas emissions, and that breaching them can carry legal consequences. Pacific island nations led the campaign that brought the question to the Court.
What is loss and damage?
Loss and damage means the harm from climate change that adaptation cannot prevent, such as land lost to the sea or crops destroyed by salt water. Countries agreed at COP27 in 2022 to set up a fund to help vulnerable nations respond, and Tuvalu argues it must be simple for small islands to access.
What is Tuvalu asking other countries to do?
Cut emissions fast enough to keep 1.5°C within reach, provide adaptation and loss-and-damage finance that small islands can actually use, recognise that Tuvalu’s statehood and maritime boundaries are permanent, support dignified climate mobility, and give the ocean its own place in climate negotiations.