TALANOA with Alopi Latukefu on Climate Action.

Mr Alopi Latukefu of the Edmund Rice Centre calls climate change 'the existential threat of our lifetime'.

Funafuti Atoll is at the front line against global warming. 15 feet above sea level at the highest point, rising levels are putting the population of 10,000 at risk. It is likely that this island nation will be the first country to disappear as a result of climate change. Tuvalu is the smallest country in the world, only 26 Km2. Already during the highest tides, sea water is forced up through the porous coral atoll, flooding many low lying areas. This salt water poisons the thin soil and makes growing crops very difficult, leaving the Tuvaluans dependant on expensive imports. Weather patterns are also altering. Increased storm activity is creating wave erosion with many parts of the island suffering land loss; trees are washed into the sea as the island is undercut. floodwater surrounds a house during one of the highest tides of the year. (Photo by Ashley Cooper/Corbis via Getty Images) Credit: Ashley Cooper/Corbis via Getty Images

Former prime minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, called it 'the greatest moral dilemma of our time'.

For Mr Alopi Latukefu, a Moana Pasefika person from Tonga, the threat for Pacific nations populations is more than rising sea levels and homes washed to the lagoon. It is disease and poverty that will lead to generations of young people without proper nutrition and poor educational outcomes.

It is the loss of language and ways of life that had sustained Moana Pasefika people for generations.

As the world prepares for COP31 co-hosted by Australia and Pacific Island states with Turkyie, there is a lot at stake bringing countries with the largest output of pollution to an international binding agreement on emissions targets.

Australia has already welcomed the first settlers from Tuvalu under the Falepili Union Agreement. BUT most island states would prefer climate action to keep their homes and heritage for future generations and not be rendered climate refugees.

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