Tuvalu will become the first ever country to lose its land – and therefore, its legal statehood – due to climate change. This is a completely new problem, unique to the modern era, and so requires a completely new solution.

To preserve its culture and protect its statehood under international law, Tuvalu will become The First Digital Nation.

Our campaign marked the start of Tuvalu’s unprecedented climate adaptation strategy and served as a poignant message to the rest of the world: this is the first ever digital migration, but without global climate action, it won’t be the last. 

Tuvalu, a low-lying Pacific nation, is facing an impossible challenge. At the current rate of global sea level rise, the entire country will be submerged by 2050.

As the ocean closes in, Tuvalu must ask: what happens to a country without land?

In addition to the displacement from loss of physical land, Tuvalu faces another threat: the loss of its rights as a nation. International law currently dictates that nations need a “defined physical territory” to exist, so Tuvalu risks becoming the first country to lose its sovereignty due to climate change. Tuvalu’s maritime boundaries, international voting rights, and voice on the world stage are all at risk.

Tuvaluan Minister Simon Kofe was scheduled to speak at COP27, the UN Climate Change Conference. Though it was expected to be a typical diplomatic address to assembled delegates and reporters, Minister Kofe used the moment to unveil a radical plan for survival. 

Tuvalu will become the First Digital Nation, ensuring its sovereignty and ability to govern in the face of a worst-case scenario.

During his address at COP27, Minister Kofe outlined the plan, which involves gradually migrating Tuvalu's government services, culture, and history to the cloud.

This digital transformation process will allow Tuvalu to remain a functioning country even after its physical land is no more. The first step in this process is the digitization of Tuvalu's land, which will serve as a crucial component in its legal fight for a revised definition of territorial sovereignty under international law.

The Digital Nation is both a plan for survival, and a provocation designed to drive urgent conversation around climate action and climate mitigation.

Tuvalu needed to direct the attention of world leaders at COP27 to its immediate concerns: funding for loss and damages caused by climate change, fossil fuel reduction, and an agreement that Tuvalu’s sovereignty would be protected, even if its land disappears.

But Tuvalu had been voicing these concerns for years, and nothing had been done. It was the inaction of those same world leaders that has forced Tuvalu to plan for a future without land.

Therefore, Tuvalu’s message needed to resonate with the world beyond COP27 – drawing international attention to help pressure international action.

With that in mind, Tuvalu’s announcement was designed for maximum emotional impact. This is the heart-breaking last resort of a nation that’s run out of time, and options.

The initiative was launched at COP27, with a recorded address from Tuvaluan Minister Simon Kofe.

On the screen, Minister Kofe appeared to address the audience from Te Afualiku, Tuvalu’s smallest island, the first part of the country that will be taken by the sea. Halfway through the speech, the island around him began to freeze and stutter, and it was revealed to be the first part of Tuvalu to be recreated digitally.

From within the Digital Nation, Minister Kofe outlined his country’s plan for survival. What started as a typical diplomatic address quickly became a haunting vision of Tuvalu’s future.

That striking vision of a lone island, surrounded by a sea of darkness became a powerful symbol of Tuvalu’s plight and the consequences of climate change.

Migrating Tuvalu to the metaverse is a huge undertaking, the process of digitisation has already begun with drone and typographical mapping of Tuvalu’s islands.

With a $0 media budget, the project’s launch reached 2.1 billion people.

It was covered by 359 global publications, including The New York Times and The Guardian, and trended on Tiktok and Twitter. The website received global traffic from 160 countries, 118 in less than 48 hours.

This reach turned to action when, days after the announcement, a historic Loss and Damage Fund for nations like Tuvalu was established at COP27.

Most importantly, nine nations have agreed to officially recognise Tuvalu’s digital statehood – creating a pathway to sovereignty, that would secure Tuvalu’s maritime boundaries, international voting rights, and place on the world stage.

From here, Tuvalu plans to use a digital recreation of its islands to challenge the international criteria for statehood, specifically the requirement of a "defined territory."

The work was not just an announcement of a tragic climate adaptation strategy, but a powerful provocation for global action.

“Te Afualiku has great cultural significance to our country,” said Minister Kofe. “The name of the island was originally called ‘Te Afu Alii’ which is translated as ‘the sweat of the Chief’. It speaks of the harsh environmental conditions of the islands that Tuvaluans have endured for centuries and has made people resilient. It is fitting that Te Afualiku is the location from which I called upon the world to change its ways in an effort to save our future. It is my hope that through our digital nation initiative we can preserve the history, culture, and everything that islets like Te Afualiku represents for Tuvaluans.”

Minister Kofe is adamant that Tuvalu not be seen as a victim of climate change, but a leader of climate adaptation. “We live with the realities of climate change and have a responsibility to forewarn the world as to what is coming ahead.”