Tuvalu is the first country in the world forced to migrate due to the climate crisis.

No, this isn't the plot of a new apocalyptic series on Netflix. What you're about to read is a true story, and it's already underway. It's the story of Tuvalu , a tiny archipelago in the heart of the Pacific , where the first mass migration caused by climate change is taking place.

Tuvalu, composed of nine coral islands and atolls, is home to just over 11,000 inhabitants . Its territory lies, on average, just two meters above sea level, making this island nation extremely vulnerable to rising sea levels, flooding, and storm surges . These phenomena, due to the climate crisis, are becoming increasingly frequent and intense.

According to a report by NASA's Sea Level Change Team (2023), sea levels around Tuvalu have risen 15 centimeters (6 inches) compared to the average of the previous three decades. If this trend continues—and data suggests it is set to accelerate—much of Tuvalu's land and infrastructure could disappear under water by 2050.

To address this nightmare scenario, in 2023 Tuvalu and Australia signed the Falepili Union Treaty, a historic agreement that includes a planned migration plan. Under this pact, 280 Tuvaluan citizens per year will be able to move to Australia with permanent residence visas.

Visas are awarded by lottery and grant beneficiaries equal rights to other Australian residents in terms of access to healthcare, education, housing, and employment. Furthermore, Tuvaluans will retain the right to return to their home country should the climate improve.

Interest in this program has been immense: when it first opened, 8,750 people applied , including family members of the main candidates. This number confirms the population's readiness to face climate exile. But Tuvalu is not giving up on its disappearance . Indeed, it has launched an ambitious strategy to preserve its national identity even if the physical territory no longer exists.

In 2022, the government launched a pioneering project to become the world's first digital nation. This includes 3D scanning the islands , creating a virtual environment to relocate government functions, and even proposing constitutional reforms to define the state as a sovereign virtual reality .

An idea that may seem like science fiction, but has already been recognized by 25 nations , including Australia and New Zealand. The goal is not only technical, but profoundly political : maintaining the continuity of the state and maritime borders even without a physical territory .

Tuvalu's Prime Minister, Feleti Teo, made an impassioned appeal to the international community during the Third United Nations Ocean Conference, held in Nice in June 2025. He called for legal recognition of the right to state continuity, even in the event of the disappearance of physical territory, and the permanence of maritime borders, which are fundamental to economic sovereignty .

Not only that: Tuvalu is among the first countries to support the proposal for a Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Fossil Fuels , to achieve a rapid, equitable and irreversible elimination of fossil fuels in all sectors.

What is happening in Tuvalu is not an exception , but a sign of the future that could affect many other coastal and island nations. According to NASA, global sea levels have risen more than 10 centimeters since 1993 , and the annual rate of rise has doubled . Some regions, such as the Gulf of Mexico, are experiencing rates three times higher than the global average.

The Pacific islands are on the front lines, but the problem is global. The effects of global warming are resulting in new forms of migration, unprecedented in international law and politics: climate migration . This urgent and still underexplored issue requires new legal instruments, inclusive policies, and a collective awareness. Tuvalu's story is a warning and a challenge. It is the living symbol—for now—of how climate change is a concrete reality , not a problem of the future. In a world still divided between climate deniers and the indifferent, Tuvalu cannot afford the luxury of doubt . For its citizens, climate change is not a matter of opinion, but of survival.