It’s a desperate plan – with a hidden message. The Pacific nation of Tuvalu is planning to create a version of itself in the metaverse, as a response to the existential threat of rising sea levels. Tuvalu’s minister for justice, communication and foreign affairs, Simon Kofe, made the announcement via a chilling digital address to leaders at COP27.

A recent workshop held in Wellington, New Zealand, explored the consequences of the hellish climate change scenario for the security and peace of communities and countries in the Pacific region. At the same time, participants searched for pathways off the highway to hell, tapping into the expertise and experiences of a diverse group of policymakers, practitioners and researchers from the Pacific and beyond.

Let’s be clear, people displaced by climate breakdown are not climate refugees under international law. They are not being forced from their countries because of persecution by their own government. Nor are they migrants. They are not leaving in search of work or education, or to be closer to family. Rather, many millions of people are likely to be dispossessed from their homes by the choices of other countries to continue to pollute the atmosphere, without a legal framework to protect them.

In a landmark decision, a United Nations committee on Friday found Australia’s former Coalition government violated the human rights of Torres Strait Islanders by failing to adequately respond to the climate crisis.

At the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September 2022, the leaders of the small island – or ‘big ocean’ – countries in the Pacific called for a re-focus on the global climate emergency. Using their moral authority, which is grounded in the fact that their countries are the ones most affected by this emergency while contributing hardly anything to its causes, Pacific leaders demanded more decisive climate action and put forward new proposals and initiatives.

The meeting of the leaders of the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) countries in Suva, Fiji, in mid-July drew more international attention from beyond the region than usual, as it took place at a time of increasing geo-strategic competition between USA and China. Moreover, it was the first in-person meeting of leaders since 2019. For the last two years, the COVID pandemic has made such meetings impossible.