In November 2022, at the COP27 climate conference, Tuvalu announced that it would become the world’s first digital nation. The message was blunt: if rising seas take the land, Tuvalu intends to remain a State, with its government, records and culture intact.
Where did the idea come from?
It grew out of the Future Now Project, known in Tuvaluan as Te Ataeao Nei, launched on 27 October 2021 by the Ministry of Justice, Communications and Foreign Affairs. The project asks a hard question: how would Tuvalu keep functioning as a country in the worst case, if its people could no longer live on its islands? Its answers cover statehood and maritime boundaries, diplomacy, digital government and culture.
What is being digitised?
- Government. The administrative systems a State needs to run its services and meet its obligations, wherever its officials are.
- Records. Land titles, archives and the geographic data that define Tuvalu’s islands and maritime zones.
- Culture. Songs, dances, stories, traditional knowledge and the places that hold them, recorded with communities.
At COP27, the then minister appeared in a digital replica of Teafualiku, a small islet on Funafuti, to show what could be lost and what could be kept. The metaverse made headlines, but it is a small part of the work.
Statehood in the Constitution
Tuvalu backed the idea with law. The Constitution of Tuvalu Act 2023, in force since 1 October 2023, declares that the State of Tuvalu will continue to exist regardless of the impact of climate change, and that its maritime zones, defined by fixed coordinates, are permanent. Tuvalu was the first country to put this protection into its constitution.
Tuvalu has asked other countries to recognise its statehood and boundaries on the same terms.
Related: Is Tuvalu sinking? and the Falepili Union.