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France 24
France 24
World
Pauline ROUQUETTE

Australia offers refuge to Tuvaluans as rising sea levels threaten Pacific archipelago

The South Pacific pounds the serpentine coastline of Tuvalu's Funafuti Atoll in this file photo taken on February 19, 2004. © Torsten Blackwood, AFP

As sea levels continue to rise due to global warming, Tuvalu, a small archipelago in the Pacific, is seeing its territory disappear underwater, threatening the survival of its more than 11,000 inhabitants. A new treaty with Australia, however, will soon allow Tuvaluans to move to the largest country in Oceania, whose greenhouse gas emissions are partly responsible for the islanders’ plight.  

Canberra announced on Friday that it is offering climate refuge to Tuvaluans, unveiling the terms of a pact that would enable citizens of the 26-square kilometre archipelago – the fourth smallest state in the world – to move to Australia to "live, study and work". 

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