Climate change spurs the island nation of Tuvalu to copy itself in the Metaverse
Halfway between Hawaii and Australia lies a tiny island nation called Tuvalu. With climate change and rising sea levels, its continued existence—at least in the physical world—is not guaranteed.
But in the metaverse, its history and culture can live on. With this in mind, Tuvalu will be the first nation to replicate in the virtual reality world known as the Metaverse.
“As our country disappears, we have no choice but to become the world’s first digital nation,” Foreign Minister Simon Kofe said via video address this week at the COP27 climate summit. “Our land, our ocean, our culture are our people’s most valuable assets, and to protect them from harm no matter what happens in the physical world, we will move them to the cloud. Little by little, we will preserve our land, bring comfort to our people, and remind our children and grandchildren of what our homeland once was.”
As the video zooms out of Kofe, speaking from behind a lectern on the beach, it’s revealed that he’s in a Metaverse setting as he warns, “It’s been a long time for action, but we haven’t upped the challenge. We have to start with that today. Otherwise Tuvalu will only exist here for a lifetime.”
The Metaverse is a digital space made more lifelike thanks to virtual reality and augmented reality, with users wearing VR headsets for an immersive experience. Facebook owner Meta has gambled heavily on the Metaverse eventually becoming popular, though consumer interest in it seems limited so far.
Tuvalu’s digital version of itself will include islands and landmarks to preserve its history. Teafualiku Islet, the nation’s smallest island, “is the first part of our country that we’re going to lose — so it’s the first that we’ve digitally recreated,” according to a website that complements Kofe’s address. (The setting for his speech was a digital version of the island.) He gave no details on the project’s schedule or who will be working on it.
Kofe has captivated climate observers before. At last year’s COP 26, he spoke in a suit and tie in front of a lectern while standing knee-deep in the sea – but by the end of the video it wasn’t clear he was even outside. “Climate change and sea level rise are deadly and existential threats to Tuvalu and low-lying atoll countries,” he said at the time.
Behind the showmanship, Tuvalu, with around 12,000 inhabitants, is actually in an existential crisis. According to London think tank Chatham House, “Many island nations will lose significant land to rising sea levels. At least five – Tuvalu, the Maldives, Kiribati, Vanuatu and the Marshall Islands – face complete disappearance by 2100.”
Kofe continues in the video:
“Our Tuvalu culture dictates that we all share responsibility for the global emergency caused by the climate crisis. Together we must stop fossil fuel emissions and fossil fuel production, and significantly increase funding for loss and damage, mitigation and adaptation. Not only Tuvalu is affected, but the world is facing extreme weather events and shocking temperatures.”
And as he suggests, children living on Tuvalu today could live to old age in a world where the island nation of their birth no longer exists.
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