Nearly One-third Of Pacific Nation Tuvalu Seeks Australian Climate Visa

A giant piece of driftwood dominates the shoreline of Tepuka Islet on Funafuti Atoll, 22 February 2004, as rising sea levels inundate many of Tuvalu's low islands. Tuvaluans fear that global warming induced changes in sea level coupled with king tides and cyclones will soon render their Polynesian archipelago uninhabitable. (Credit: AFP)

Nearly one-third of citizens in Pacific nation Tuvalu are seeking a landmark climate visa to live in Australia as rising seas threaten their palm-fringed shores, official figures obtained by AFP show.

Australia is offering visas to 280 Tuvalu citizens each year under a climate migration deal Canberra has billed as "the first agreement of its kind anywhere in the world".