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Sinking islands: Kiribati faces up to climate change
DW (English)
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11/18/2023
Kiribati could soon become uninhabitable due to climate change. Residents are using all available means to protect themselves from rising sea levels.
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00:00
(upbeat music)
00:02
- It's getting closer to the road
00:07
and it's getting closer to our homes
00:10
and slowly being destroyed by this course of climate change.
00:15
- Max Te'eia lives in Kiribati,
00:19
a South Pacific nation whose very existence is under threat.
00:22
Rising sea levels mean the entire country
00:25
could soon become uninhabitable.
00:28
- We're not going to run from the problems,
00:30
we're going to face it.
00:31
There are countries in the world where we have islands
00:34
and they've built their islands
00:35
because they have the two things.
00:36
They have the technology and they have the funds.
00:39
- The 120,000 residents of Kiribati want to stay here
00:45
and protect themselves as best as they can.
00:47
But how long can that last?
00:49
(upbeat music)
00:56
(wind blowing)
00:58
- When we were kids, the high tide usually
01:06
stops maybe from here.
01:09
Here, it stops here and now then,
01:15
as we are growing up, the high tide just moved,
01:20
moved and now it's hitting the land.
01:25
It's hitting the edge and it's getting,
01:28
it's corrupting everything.
01:30
As you can see, trees are falling down,
01:34
not enough sand to hold them
01:37
and it's getting close to the road.
01:39
And I think this is not, it's just the beginning.
01:42
Maybe it will keep on going.
01:46
Yeah, it was not always like that.
01:47
(upbeat music)
01:54
- It's getting closer to our homes
01:57
and it's a big deal for us.
02:02
Slowly being destroyed by this course of climate change.
02:07
- Kiribati is made up of 33 small islands
02:10
spread across the Pacific.
02:12
In some areas, the ground is three meters above the water,
02:15
but almost everywhere else, it's only one meter.
02:18
Rising sea levels are causing land to disappear.
02:22
The number of storms is increasing
02:24
and drinking water is becoming salty.
02:27
Max's grandfather, Kiraray Sioana,
02:29
has been living here since he was a child.
02:31
Scientists started noting a rapid rise
02:34
in sea levels in the 1990s.
02:36
- If the water continues to rise, it will erode our land.
02:42
The sea is drawing closer and closer
02:44
and will make our lives unpleasant, don't you think?
02:47
What should we do?
02:48
Maybe this is climate change,
02:50
but what can we do about it?
02:52
Nothing.
02:53
We can't do anything and we urgently need help.
02:56
- Not everyone in Kiribati thinks the situation is hopeless.
03:03
Pelonesi Alofa is a climate activist
03:05
and founder of Kirikan,
03:07
a local climate protection organization.
03:09
She and other campaigners bought this plot of land
03:12
when it was completely flooded.
03:14
Together, they work to build a wall and drain the land.
03:18
They want to show others that they are a resilient nation
03:20
and they don't want to leave.
03:23
- This is our resilient village.
03:25
We're always underwater when it's high tide.
03:29
We were not here, water will be right in the main road.
03:32
- Residents are braving the encroaching seawater.
03:35
They're teaching others how to grow food
03:38
in constantly salinized soil.
03:40
Pelonesi's nephew, Ralph Spring, is the gardener here
03:44
and he knows how cultivation can work in these conditions.
03:50
- This is growing food on raised beds over the ground
03:55
if your place is saltwater inundated.
03:59
And we also make our own soil.
04:03
And that's a skill that every household should know,
04:06
to plant their own food to be healthy.
04:07
We collect a lot of our browns.
04:10
These are chips made from all sorts of,
04:14
we have some leaves inside that are brown now,
04:16
some, as you can see, some of the sticks
04:20
from brushes and all.
04:22
This one will stay at the bottom
04:24
because we know this will take time to decompose
04:27
and then we'll put good soil on top.
04:29
That's what we'll use for planting.
04:30
- His services are a vital contribution
04:33
in a country where an increasing number of crops
04:36
are dying because of the saltwater.
04:39
But Pelonesi and her colleague, Maris Peter,
04:41
know that this won't fix everything.
04:44
They need more resources.
04:45
- You know, Kiribati, our government wanted
04:48
to raise islands there.
04:49
And maybe we do not have the means to do that.
04:53
But there are countries in the world where we have islands
04:56
and they've built their islands
04:57
because they have the two things.
04:59
They have the technology and they have the funds.
05:01
They have money.
05:02
Those are the two things to help us
05:04
to stop the problem that we're facing.
05:08
We're not going to run from the problems.
05:09
We're going to face it.
05:11
But we do not have those two things.
05:15
- It's not yet clear exactly how the main island
05:18
of Tarawa will be elevated.
05:20
The problem is that the island is densely populated.
05:23
Residential buildings, government buildings,
05:26
and hospitals would need to be demolished
05:28
before the island could be raised up and then rebuilt.
05:31
Another possibility is filling in
05:33
a kind of replacement island.
05:35
The government has remained tight-lipped
05:37
on these costly ideas, and so far,
05:39
nobody has responded to our requests for an interview.
05:43
China is one possible donor
05:45
because it works closely with Kiribati,
05:47
but the West fears new Chinese military bases
05:50
in the Pacific.
05:51
As yet, there's no information
05:53
on the Kiribati government's plan in this area.
05:56
Claire and Tangaroa Antarea say the same thing.
06:01
They live with their 10-year-old daughter
06:02
in a small house on Tarawa, the main island of Kiribati.
06:06
They say information about climate change
06:09
is only reaching the other islands very slowly
06:12
despite the visible changes.
06:15
So, because the term "climate change" for our people,
06:18
it's really a new word.
06:21
But they are aware of the changes
06:25
that are occurring in their island.
06:28
So, by answering that, I think it's definitely confusing.
06:34
But our people are facing the severe impact.
06:40
And I think we experience it in so many ways.
06:45
The water is already blackish.
06:47
Of course, we have a very narrow island,
06:51
but why now?
06:53
People used to have good water,
06:56
but why now that we have salty water?
07:00
Right now, water is the biggest problem.
07:03
Rising sea levels are pushing saltwater further inland,
07:07
making groundwater unusable.
07:09
Importing bottled drinking water is too expensive,
07:12
and rainwater is the only option for many people.
07:16
Tangaroa says you can no longer distinguish
07:18
between the rainy and dry seasons.
07:20
Sometimes it rains all the time,
07:22
sometimes not for years,
07:23
making the water supply inconsistent.
07:26
Because this one is full,
07:28
and I have to collect extra water
07:32
that we can use for our needs
07:37
because we drink rainwater.
07:40
Claire and Tangaroa also have a well in their garden.
07:44
Their water isn't salty
07:45
because they live in the middle of the island.
07:47
But that also means they have a lot of responsibility.
07:50
Not only do they drink from the well,
07:52
their neighbours also come here to get water.
07:55
That's why Tangaroa cleans it once a month,
07:58
and the neighbours help out.
08:04
Just to make sure that our water inside this,
08:09
this one is clean every day.
08:13
You know when we start building a house,
08:16
we don't have a water tank,
08:19
we don't have rainwater,
08:21
we use this well to drink.
08:27
We use it to drink this water.
08:32
We need to take care of this well, this water.
08:37
Just in case, no rain,
08:41
this is our water.
08:45
This is our drinking water.
08:47
Kiribati is full of solidarity.
08:53
Tangaroa is on his way to see his friend Tatabo Arawa'oa,
08:57
who lives right by the sea.
08:59
Like the other coastal residents,
09:01
he's built a wall in front of his house for protection.
09:04
It has been standing for 40 years
09:06
and has made seaside living possible
09:08
on the overcrowded island.
09:10
But that's gradually changing.
09:12
When they built the sea wall,
09:15
at that time, yeah,
09:16
they didn't have a problem with the sea.
09:20
And by that time,
09:21
things happened to the sea wall.
09:25
They start, the sea wall start
09:29
broken during the king's tides.
09:32
I get scared when the king tides come,
09:34
especially when it's windy.
09:36
My wall is always on the verge of breaking.
09:41
The next morning,
09:42
they survey the damage from the night before.
09:45
It wasn't as bad as Tatabo had feared,
09:47
but he still has to repair his wall.
09:50
A stone has come loose.
09:51
It's only a small repair needed today,
09:54
but it has to be done quickly.
09:57
If I don't fix this now,
09:59
the next flood this afternoon will cause even more damage.
10:02
Stones would break loose
10:03
and the land beneath it will just get washed away.
10:07
It can still be saved.
10:09
However, researchers predict that the rate
10:12
at which sea levels are rising will only accelerate.
10:15
More conservative calculations predict a rise
10:18
of 1.1 metres compared to the previous year.
10:22
Should that occur, Kiribati's fate would be uncertain.
10:26
But judging by the impact that the climate crisis
10:29
is already having on this small country,
10:31
it's reasonable to assume that land will continue
10:34
to shrink in the future,
10:36
and that drinking water will become even more scarce.
10:39
Without international aid,
10:41
residents could become climate refugees.
10:44
If our islands disappear from this earth,
10:47
then we will have no more land.
10:51
We will be nothing.
10:54
Because what is important for me is my culture,
10:58
my language, my people.
11:02
So I request to the world
11:05
that they need to sacrifice
11:09
and have compassion on the low-lying islands
11:12
like Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, Maldives,
11:16
and Kiribati, who are already affected
11:19
by the climate change impact.
11:23
The residents are committed,
11:27
but they need developed countries
11:29
to invest money and resources to save Kiribati.
11:32
There's even a song here about climate change.
11:35
Every child knows the words,
11:37
just like they know what climate change means for Kiribati.
11:41
Tangaroa's niece, Cindy Baranato, sings it in the choir.
11:45
# For myself
11:47
# Searching for my refuge
11:51
# As the world is getting worse
11:54
# Day and night
11:57
# My people and my future
12:02
# My country on my own
12:06
# Stand firm and staying strong
12:09
# Until the end of time
12:13
# Climate change is growing strong
12:17
# The rising wave will kill us all
12:20
# And we cry, yeah, we cry
12:24
# To the Lord to help me through. #
12:29
- [Woman] Ooh.
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