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The Pacific island nation of Tuvalu is trying to save what it can by digitally backing up everything from its homes to its trees as it faces erasure from climate change.
What do you do when faced with such an existential crisis? Build a seawall? Want to reclaim land from the sea? Are you moving permanently? These are all solutions that have been tried by other small island nations facing similar problems, and indeed by the Tuvaluans themselves.
But Tuvalu is going one step further in its attempt to preserve its territory and state. As the country's physical reality slides beneath the sea, governments are building digital copies of the country, backing up everything from homes to beaches to trees. It is hoped that this virtual replica will preserve the beauty and culture of this country and the legal rights of its 11,000 citizens for generations to come.
Our land, sea and culture are our people's most precious assets. No matter what happens in the physical world, to protect people from harm, we move them to the cloud – Simon Kofe
The initiative was launched in 2022 by Tuvalu's Foreign Minister Simon Kofe in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, as part of the government's wider Future Now (Te Atteao Nei in Tuvaluan) project. It was first announced through a video speech played at COP27. It focuses on both international diplomacy and practical adaptation to climate change.
In the clip, which looks more like a Matrix sequel than an official government speech, Korff first appears to be standing on a beach with white sand and swaying palm trees. However, as the camera zooms out to reveal more of the landscape, the image begins to glitch. Rocks and sand shift unnaturally, and seabirds fly across the black abyss in the background.
“Our lands, our oceans, our culture are our people's most precious assets. And no matter what happens in the physical world, we will do everything we can to protect them from harm. and move them to the cloud,” Kofe said in the video. .
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Much of Tuvalu's land, including many homes and critical infrastructure, will be below current storm surge height by 2050 (Credit: Alamy)
The Digital Nation project not only aims to create a virtual copy of the islands, but also to back up the country's cultural heritage. According to the latest information from Kofe, the public will be asked to submit their most precious possessions and memories, such as sentimental items, grandfather stories and festival dances, for digitization, and will “capture the very soul of Tuvalu”. He says he is creating an archive “designed to communicate.” In 2023.
But Kofe also revealed that there is a very practical element to the project. Faced with the loss of physical land mass, small island states are grappling with the question of how to maintain their sovereignty.
Current international law is ill-suited to countries facing loss of territory and habitability due to climate change. Under international law, a sovereign state must have both a clearly defined territory and a settled population. These two characteristics are no longer guaranteed characteristics of a nation. The future of Tuvalu.
As such, the Tuvaluan government is exploring the creation of a digital passport stored on the blockchain in order to not only secure the nation's borders within the Metaverse, but also to allow the government to continue functioning. These passports cover everything from conducting elections and referendums to registering births, deaths and marriages.
Tuvalu has already enshrined a new definition of nationhood in its constitution.
Ultimately, Tuvalu hopes this project can provide a new model for nationhood that is better adapted to the needs and capabilities of a modern, warming and increasingly online world.
Tuvalu has already enshrined a new definition of nationhood in its constitution, which is increasingly being recognized by other countries, primarily those in similar predicaments. It remains to be seen whether many countries facing less existential threats will be similarly sympathetic.
But not everyone is convinced by the proposal, with some arguing that it is the same kind of resource-intensive approach that is causing climate change in the first place. Even within the Tuvaluan government, there is some skepticism about the Digital Nation Project.
But at the heart of the proposal is an acknowledgment that change is coming to the islands, and that many people will inevitably leave if life becomes harder and opportunities diminish.
According to a recent assessment by NASA scientists, much of Tuvalu's land area, including critical infrastructure, will be below current storm surge levels by 2050. Under all climate scenarios, the country would experience more than 100 days of flooding each year. By the end of this century. Additionally, there are other impacts to consider, such as salt water intrusion, heat waves, and cyclone intensification.
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International law requires sovereign states to have a clearly defined territory and a settled population, but neither is guaranteed in Tuvalu's future (Credit: Alamy)
This perhaps represents a shift away from the “we are not drowning, we are fighting'' belief that has so far shaped the rhetoric of Pacific island nations.
Already, the prospect of mass migration from Tuvalu to Australia (approximately 5,000 km/3,000 miles away) has recently become a reality following a 2023 agreement between the two countries that will allow the migration of 280 Tuvaluans each year. It became. They will be given new visas that will allow them to live, work and study in Australia, with a path to citizenship also available.
However, not everyone agrees that it is time to abandon the island.
It is our dignity, our culture, our tradition. It’s not something you can pack in a suitcase and carry around – Grace Marie
“The idea of creating a digital state of Tuvalu in the Metaverse implies that Tuvalu will disappear due to rising sea levels, and a digital copy of Tuvalu should be created,” said Enele Sopoaga, former prime minister and now opposition leader. he said. , in a 2023 media statement in response to the proposal. “There is no basis for such a proposition in international law, and there is no reason to believe that rising sea levels will eliminate Tuvalu.”
Tuvaluan climate activist Grace Murray addressed the United Nations General Assembly plenary session in September about the existential threat posed by rising sea levels, saying that while Tuvalu and other maritime nations “will not quietly embark on rising sea levels,” He told delegates that he would “continue the fight” to improve the chances of their land, culture and future.
“It's not just our homes that are at risk,” she said of Tuvaluans. “It's our dignity, it's our culture, it's our heritage. It's not something you can pack in a suitcase and carry around. Even though we did the bare minimum to create a crisis. , are paying the greatest price.”
But others point out that building a digital twin of Tuvalu does not mean abandoning efforts to save the island itself. They argue that efforts to physically protect the island can run parallel to efforts to preserve its memory within the metaverse.
“The Digital Nation Program does not mean accepting the loss of the nation as a physical entity,” says Taukiei, a Tuvaluan researcher at Australia's Griffith University and co-author of a recent paper on the Digital Nation Initiative.・Mr. Kitara says: He points out that this project is just one of many in Tuvalu's fight against climate change, and has the advantage of being driven by Tuvaluans themselves.
For example, the government is also spending millions of dollars on land reclamation through coastal adaptation projects. Over the past two years, flood-free land has been added to Funafuti and Fogafale islands, providing space for housing, infrastructure and other critical services. On the outer islands of Nanumaga and Nanumea, new protective walls are blocking tidal currents from encroaching on homes, schools, hospitals, farmland and other cultural properties.
“When it comes to risk management, it is wise to plan for multiple scenarios (both best and worst case and everything in between) and this is the approach of the current Tuvaluan government, and indeed successive Tuvaluan governments. ”Kitara added.
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As part of its digital transition, the Tuvalu government is now using LiDAR technology to map every aspect of the island (Credit: Alamy)
Putting aside the question of whether governments should be preparing for a future beyond the archipelago, some have suggested that plans for a digital nation are simply unrealistic in a country that remains relatively disconnected from the digital world. They argue that this is nothing more than a PR stunt aimed at attracting international attention and persuading wealthier countries to cut emissions, which is key to the survival of the physical island itself. There is.
But the Tuvaluan government's focus on mapping the islands and improving connectivity suggests that the project is more than just a means of applying diplomatic pressure.
If you look at developed countries, even if they don't call it digital twins, they are moving in this direction – Frank Pichel
In the first year following the COP27 announcement, Tuvalu completed a 3D scan of all 124 islands using light detection and ranging (Lidar) technology, an airborne laser scanning technology. We are currently improving digital connectivity with the construction of undersea communications cables, which will help provide the bandwidth needed to carry out our plans.
In March and April 2024, Place, a global nonprofit organization supporting open access mapping and other geographic data, used drones and 360-degree cameras to record both aerial and street-level footage. and began mapping the physical features of Funafuti, the capital of Tuvalu. image.
This raw data can be used to create Google Earth or Street View style imagery, but requires the ultra-high resolution needed to capture details on narrow islands that are only tens of meters wide in some locations. . When it comes to finer details, the precision of satellite images is not accurate enough.
“We drove all over the island, then switched to mopeds for bike rides and a small GoPro for all the walks,” said Frank Pichel, who oversees field operations at Place. I say. “I think we covered about 80 or 90 kilometers (50 or 56 miles). We really covered as much distance as we could.”
Far from a PR exercise, building “digital twins” in this way has a variety of real-world applications, including helping nations adapt to and mitigate climate change in practical ways. he points out. For example, by recording the size and angle of your roof, you can model future solar panel capacity. Meanwhile, scanning water tanks helps estimate the availability of drinking water on the island.
This is not an approach unique to a place like Tuvalu, Pichel says, although cultural aspects and the urgency of climate change add further dimensions to the challenge.
“If you look at developed countries, they are considering moving in this direction, even if they don't call it digital twins. So this is something that's been around in the spatial data management space for a long time and is perhaps growing a little bit under a new label. ”
Pichel said Tuvalu's next step is to map the remaining islands and work to fill in any remaining gaps.
Spanning some 420 miles (676 km), the islands are far apart and this in itself would be a difficult and time-consuming endeavor. Nevertheless, the Place team hopes to return every two years to collect more data, reflecting the fact that the island itself is constantly changing due to the effects of climate change.
As sea levels rise, building a digital replica could save Tuvalu more money than it would have otherwise. While the island's physical future may be uncertain, its digital journey is just beginning.
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