Kiribati and Climate Change

Kiribati could soon become uninhabitable due to climate change. Residents are using all available means to protect themselves from rising sea levels.

In Kiribati, residents are building walls to protect their homes from rising sea levels – which worked well for a long time. But the high tides are getting more extreme, resulting in what they call ‘king tides.’ Now, walls are no longer a permanent solution. So how can Kiribati be saved?

There have been discussions of an artificial replacement island or filling in some of the 33 islands. But, even though the disaster has been looming for years, these solutions are only theoretical. And the government has remained tight-lipped on which solution it prefers. Meanwhile, residents are repairing their walls and hoping for support from overseas.

A report by Luca Schmitt-Walz.