UN General Assembly
2021

With forced displacement due to climate change and sea level rise, what shall we do and where should we go? What about our traditional culture and heritage? What will happen to us? What happens to our human rights? Will Tuvalu remain a member state of the UN if it is finally submerged? Who can help us, and will they help us? Mr. President, These are the valid but difficult moral and political questions we, and millions of people in low lying countries and coastal areas, continue to grapple with. Consequently, these same difficult questions will be asked by those of us who remain ignorant of climate change. Until we have answers to these difficult questions, sustainable development, for us, will only be wishful thinking and a short-term goal running on borrowed time. Not a reality we can accomplish.