BACKGROUNDER
Displacement Solutions Australia – Kiribati Climate Displacement Initiative
Kiribati
Kiribati (pronounced KIRR-i-bas), officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the
central tropical Pacific Ocean. The permanent population is just over 100,000 (2011), and the island nation
is composed of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres,
overlapping the equator and bordering the International Date Line at its easternmost point.
The name Kiribati is the local pronunciation of "Gilberts" derived from the main island chain, the Gilbert
Islands. Kiribati became independent from the United Kingdom in 1979. It is a member of the
Commonwealth of Nations and became a full member of the United Nations in 1999.
The situation in Kiribati
According to a report published by the World Bank in 2000, "the Pacific Islands are becoming increasingly
vulnerable to extreme weather events as growing urbanisation and squatter settlements, degradation of
coastal ecosystems, and rapidly developing infrastructure on coastal areas intensify the islands’ natural
exposure to climate events. Among the most substantial impacts of climate change would be losses of
coastal infrastructure and land resulting from inundation, storm surge, and shoreline erosion. Climate
change could also cause more intense cyclones and droughts, the failure of subsistence crops and coastal
fisheries, losses in coral reefs, and the spread of malaria and dengue fever."
Kiribati experiences higher tides and more frequent storms, which bring salt-water intrusion and coastal
flooding. Coupled with the island nation’s long periods of drought, the supply of fresh water is extremely
endangered. The islands and atolls of Kiribati have limited ground water lenses. Potable ground water has
traditionally been supplied to the population by ground-water wells; however this supply is failing as a direct
result of the fresh water lenses being contaminated by salt water. The coral limestone, that supports the
atolls, is porous and allows seawater to flow through it.
A KAPII (Kiribati Adaptation Program – Pilot Implementation Phase II) working crew recently completed a
two month long project to drill boreholes required to assess the thickness of the underground freshwater
lens in Tarawa. The lens is made up of rain water that has infiltrated the soil of the atoll. The fresh water
floats on top of a layer of saltwater directly beneath each island. The team has been led and trained by
Colin Benjamin, an experienced driller from the UK.
"We can now measure where the freshwater lens starts and finishes and how this changes over time. This
changes as it is affected by the amount of water pumped out, rainfall, tide and climate change," said
Benjamin.
“This new information is necessary to plan for the sustainable use of water in Tarawa. If too much water is
extracted at a location where the lens is not thick enough, saltwater is pumped up from below the
freshwater lens causing contamination of the freshwater and making it unusable.”
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BACKGROUNDER
“The 40,311 residents of South Tarawa are currently drawing on a groundwater supply that can only
support half the population. Water scarcity is a critical issue and the risk of saltwater contamination of the
freshwater lens is ever present, so discovering new water resources are critical.”
People in Kiribati are observing extensive coastal erosion taking place, not only of the beach but also of the
land, displacing them from traditional housing plots they have owned since the early 1900s and felling
coconut and papaya trees in coastal areas. Although a lot of attention has been given to rising sea levels,
this information only tells part of the story. The atolls of Kiribati are experiencing increased wave heights
and frequency and this is placing increased pressure on the shoreline and seawalls. Storm surges are
occurring far more often than in the past and high waves break over coastal land and seawalls causing
flooding and destruction to settled areas and agricultural areas.
Many of the crops grown in Kiribati are affected by changes in climate. Production of copra (dried coconut
meat), the main crop for about 55 per cent of Kiribati’s population, is sensitive to rainfall, as coconuts
require annual rainfall of at least 1,000-1,500 millimetres. Te babai (giant taro) is extremely sensitive to
reductions in groundwater. Te babai pits are also prone to saltwater intrusion as a result of storm surges
and overwash.
References
Tong, A 2010, Climate Change in Kiribati: the Climate Change Portal of the Office of the President of Kiribati, Tarawa,
Kiribati, http://www.climate.gov.ki/index.html
2000, ‘Cities, Seas, and Storms: Managing Change in Pacific Island Economies’, Adapting to Climate Change,
Volume IV, viewed 8 March 2012, http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPACIFICISLANDS/Resources/Summary_Vo
lume_IV_%28for_the_Hague_LATEST%29.pdf
Displacement Solutions Australia - Climate Displacement Initiative
The 100,000 people of Kiribati are on the frontline of climate displacement. Displacement Solutions
Australia (DSA) is working with the government and civil society to find the best ways of overcoming the
displacement and other housing, land and property challenges facing this Pacific nation. DSA has carried
out field visits to work on the issue of climate change-induced displacement in Kiribati in both 2010 and
2011.
The Climate Change and Displacement Initiative is an ongoing initiative instigated in 2009 designed to find
practical and viable housing, land and property solutions for climate displaced persons.
Through rights-based and innovative policy and strategy development, targeted workshops, network
building, awareness raising, publications, original research and other activities, the Initiative seeks both to
inform the world of the massive scale of displacement which will affect forced climate migrants in the years
and decades to come, and to advocate for rights-based solutions to this form of displacement, both within
the nations affected and through regional and international resettlement initiatives.
The Initiative will achieve these aims through:
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BACKGROUNDER
1. Examining the precise scale and circumstances confronting present and future forced climate
migrants within an initial focus on five countries: Bangladesh, Kiribati, Maldives, Papua New Guinea
and Tuvalu;
2. Examining existing adaptation measures in each of the five focus countries and the extent to which
these are adequate in addressing the displacement challenges ahead;
3. Examining the extent to which local housing, land and property remedies for forced climate migrants
are available, and conversely, the scale of inter-country forced migration likely to affect nearby safe
countries, with a focus on New Zealand and Australia;
4. Developing detailed contingency plans, resettlement feasibility studies, institution-building proposals
and other steps to ensure the HLP and other rights of forced climate migrants; and
5. Raising the public profile of the issue of forced displacement due to climate change, through the
production of unique films, publications, training and other public relations materials.
Milestones
2007 – The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) release their fourth report on Climate
Change. “Small Islands” is the sixteenth chapter of the IPCC report and provides the most thorough
assessment yet as to the devastating effects Climate Change will have on small islands like Kiribati, Tuvalu
and the Maldives.
2009/2010 – The New Zealand Government spent $500 million on official development assistance to
Kiribati with an increase of funding required moving forward.
2010 – The Kiribati Adaptation Project begins from the Office of the President, the Republic of Kiribati.
2010 (Aug – Sep) – Displacement Solutions Australia mounts a mission to Kiribati. Scott Leckie is joined by
Dan Lewis, UN Habitat, and Emretta Cross, Global Dialogue Foundation. The team explore issues of
climate induced displacement of the I-Kiribati people and specific HLP rights issues faced by the region.
2010 (Nov) – Tarawa Climate Change Conference sees the creation of the Ambo Declaration; a resolution
based on grave concern on the climate crisis, calling for immediate access to adaptation funds to meet and
address current and projected impacts of Climate Change.
2011 (Aug – Sep) – Return mission by Displacement Solutions Australia. The DSA team engaged with
politicians, UN Officials, civil society actors and local people about HLP rights as well as investigating the
human rights dimension of the Climate Change threat.
2012 (Feb) – Displacement Solutions Australia releases a published photo essay analysing the Kiribati
Governments’ Climate Change approach and proposes a range of innovative yet practical solutions to
climate displacement.
Coverage
2012 “Kiribati mulls Fiji land purchase in battle against sea,” BBC News Online, 8 March, viewed 8 March,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17295862
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BACKGROUNDER
Chapman P, 2012 “Sea levels force Kiribati to ask Fiji for new home,” Sydney Morning Herald Online, 9
March, viewed 9 March, http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/sea-levels-force-kiribati-toask-fijians-for-new-home-20120308-1unan.html
Leckie, S & Lewis, D 2010, Kiribati and Tuvalu will drown without global climate action, The Ecologist,
London, www.theecologist.org
Shor, J, 2009, The Tides of Change, The Yale Globalist, New Haven, Connecticut,
http://tyglobalist.org/front-page/theme/the-tides-of-change/
Scott Leckie is available for interview via telephone or Skype.
Please contact Yvette Willison, Communications Advisor on
0439 510 867 or yvette@displacementsolutions.org with any enquiries.
www.displacementsolutions.org