A country is a "territory of a nation delimited by borders and constituting a geographical entity", according to the Larousse dictionary.

And even if it also includes a people, their nature, their culture, their traditions, their history and their ability to govern themselves, can a country continue to exist without a geographical territory to rely on?

This is the once unthinkable question that some Pacific island nations must answer.

As a result of disasters caused by climate change, entire countries could become uninhabitable: many of them are destined to be completely submerged by the end of the century.

Even if the world manages to contain global warming below 1.5°C, as stipulated at the climate conferences, countries like Tuvalu or Kiribati risk ending up under water.

Like others in the region, both countries are made up of atolls, islands that also harbor a central, shallow lagoon within them, making them more vulnerable to sea level rise and its effects, such as coastal erosion, contamination of freshwater sources and destruction of food crops.

Despite being responsible for less than 0.03% of the world's total carbon emissions, the Pacific islands are on the frontline of the climate crisis.

And to avoid its catastrophic consequences, they must act urgently to safeguard their existence.

landless country

On November 15, a few days after the launch of COP27, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tuvalu, Simon Kofe, sent an urgent message to the participants.

Standing behind a wooden lectern on a beach in the country, he announced, in a video, that the tiny Pacific island nation would become the world's first digital nation.

"Since COP26, the world has not acted," he said, as the United Nations and Tuvalu flags swayed in the light ocean breeze behind him.

"We had to take our own precautionary measures...Our land, our ocean, our culture are the most precious possessions of our people. And to keep them safe from harm, no matter what happens in the world physical, we're going to move them to the cloud."

In order to preserve what remains, it will be the first country to replicate in the metaverse.

Because according to estimates, it is destined to become uninhabitable in the next 20 to 30 years.

Located halfway between Hawaii and Australia, the archipelago of nine islands hosts a population of around 12,000 inhabitants, in low-lying atolls.

This decision is part of Tuvalu's Future Now project, a worst-case scenario.

Creating a digital twin of one's land is therefore a form of preserving one's territory and maintaining one's culture.

The virtual space would allow Tuvaluans to interact with their land, its natural resources and beauty, but also with each other using their own language and customs.

Tuvalu also plans to move its administrative and governance systems online.

But can he exercise his sovereignty on a digital earth?

For Nick Kelly and Marcus Foth, professors at Queensland University of Technology, the answer is both 'yes' and 'no'.

In an article published on online media The Conversation, Kelly and Foth say that "combining these technological capabilities with the governance features for a 'digital twin' of Tuvalu is feasible."

This principle has been applied by other countries, such as in Estonia where there is a digital residence allowing non-Estonians to access services such as business creation.

Or virtual embassies, like the one Sweden created on the Second Life platform in 2011.

But getting the entire population of a country, even as small as Tuvalu, to interact online in real time is a technical challenge: "There are issues of bandwidth, computer power and the fact that many users have an aversion to helmets," say Kelly and Foth.

Moreover, technological responses to climate change "often exacerbate the problem due to their high consumption of energy and resources."

Tuvalu's replica will most likely look like an online museum and digital community: it probably won't be an "ersatz nation-state", according to the professors.

Relocation as a last option

For now, Tuvalu is still exploring its options, says Lavetanalagi Seru, policy coordinator for the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (Pican).

According to this 30-year-old Fijian, there are still many challenges to overcome.

For example, the question of the exclusive economic zone of Tuvalu, of which the country alone has the right to exploit the resources.

"The UN convention is very clear on how it is measured: it must be defined from a piece of solid ground."

The future prospects for Tuvalu are "heartbreaking" for Lavetanalagi Seru, who sees the fate of the small island state mirrored in his home country of Fiji.

Although nations formed by atolls like Tuvalu are still more vulnerable to climatic disasters than other Pacific countries – like Fiji – which can rely on a higher altitude, they face similar challenges.

"Nothing can account for the pain, trauma and homelessness" that Pacific Islanders will endure, "for this feeling of being disconnected from one's roots," says Lavetanalagi Seru.

As 65% of the Fijian population lives within 5 kilometers of the coastline, the threat of sea level rise is imminent.

For the past four years, a special body of the Fijian government has been trying to figure out how to move the country.

He has drawn up a 130-page plan titled “Standard Operating Procedures for Planned Relocations,” which will soon be submitted to the country's executive for approval.

The plan outlines how to relocate communities whose homes will soon be submerged.

So far, six villages have already been relocated and 42 others are expected to be in the next five to ten years.

"Relocating communities is our last resort," says Lavetanalagi Seru, "It's not something we should do in the first place. We shouldn't cut off our communities from their ancestral lands."

And doing it with dignity is no small feat: in addition to homes, churches, schools, roads, health centers and essential infrastructure, moving a community also involves transporting cemeteries, for example .

Taking into account every custom and need of a community is also vital: moving a fishing community inland and asking them to practice farming instead can be problematic, as can relocating elderly people to the top of hills with difficult access.

Lavetanalagi Seru grew up in a small coastal community.

Although he witnessed the consequences of climate change, he did not make the connection at the time.

"We just thought it was a natural phenomenon," he says.

It wasn't until he entered college that he began to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Then, in 2016, Cyclone Winston swept through the country and destroyed the equivalent of almost a third of Fiji's GDP.

"The roof of our family house was rolled up like a sheet of paper, because of the winds", says Lavetanalagi Seru.

"Our vegetable gardens were damaged, so my family had to rely on food from supermarkets. You need money for these things."

The cyclone destroyed so much that to this day, some families have still not been able to rebuild their homes.

"They're just trying to put food on the table, they don't think about what job they might be looking for to have a better life," he continues.

"The root cause of our problems"

The young Fijian suddenly raises his voice when asked what the international community can do.

This would be the main cause of the misfortune of his compatriots, the country contributing only a tiny part of global greenhouse gas emissions.

“Developed countries, which use coal and produce fossil fuels, must stop any further expansion of these industries,” he says.

"That's the root cause of our problems."

But although the scientific community, NGOs and climate activists have implored nations to turn away from fossil fuels, multinationals like TotalEnergies and Shell are still planning to open new gas and oil production sites.

Lack of funding is also dangerous for Pacific countries.

Lavetanalagi Seru explains that although vulnerable countries in the Pacific have plans for mitigating and adapting to climate-induced events, they do not have the money to implement them.

"If you look at the series of disasters that we face every year...When one happens, people are still recovering from it when another strikes. Where are we going to get the money" for rebuild?

For the young Fijian, it is up to the countries "that have benefited from our resources" to provide the necessary funds.

The COP27 summit concluded with the creation of a landmark climate-related “loss and damage” fund for developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

The money will cover the cost of damage that these countries cannot avoid or adapt to.

Nearly 200 countries and entities, including the European Union and the United States, have agreed to contribute.

By 2050, up to 216 million people could be displaced due to climate change.

Neither migration nor relocation were addressed in the COP27 draft agreements.

This article was adapted from the original in English by Henrique VALADARES.

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