It may sound surprising, but a 12,000-kilometer journey to the least visited country on Earth can provide valuable insights into your own country. As part of the first congressional delegation to ever set foot in Tuvalu – internationally recognized as one of the most climate-vulnerable states – we saw firsthand how climate change is affecting daily life in the Pacific and explored surprising connections between rising sea levels, disease and nutrition.
During visits to Tonga and Fiji, our delegation learned what can be done to adapt to these threats. These lessons are relevant from the South Pacific to South Jersey, from Hawaii to California to Florida.
As becomes clearer each year, rising sea levels pose a serious threat to coastal life around the world. In the coming decades, low-lying communities – and entire countries – could disappear forever. In Tuvalu, an atoll nation whose highest point is 4.5 meters above sea level, more than half of the capital city of Funafuti is estimated to be submerged by 2050. This rise in sea levels will render most of the country uninhabitable.
Although the threat is not as pronounced in the United States, nearly 40 percent of Americans live on the coasts. Over the next 30 years, sea level rise in the United States will Projections expect a rise of 10-14 inches on the East Coast, 14-18 inches on the Gulf Coast and 4-8 inches on the West Coast. Special attention should be paid to sea level rise and storms threaten agricultural communities on the coast worldwide. These threats include erosion, land loss and saltwater intrusion, which can contaminate water supplies and destroy the agricultural and fisheries sectors.
We have seen these effects firsthand in the Pacific Islands, where saltwater intrusion has significantly limited residents’ ability to grow and produce nutritious food. As a result, residents often have no choice but to buy cheap processed foods high in salt and fat from abroad. These “junk foods” are low in essential nutrients, leading to a devastating cycle: malnutrition at a young age increases the risk of obesity later in life. In fact, in the Pacific, childhood obesity rates are rising faster than in any other region of the world, which contributes to the highest death rate from diabetes in the world.
What can we do to address these complex, interconnected threats? We have learned that multilateral investment – through the United Nations and USAID – is critical to the self-defense of these countries. On the other hand, it has become clear that reducing or eliminating contributions to multilateral accounts – as the House of Representatives recently endorsed – or the argument that aid should only be provided on a bilateral basis would be extremely damaging.
In Tuvalu, we stood on a seawall partly funded by the UN Green Climate Fund and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). It is the first large-scale coastal adaptation project of its kind in the region. The project will be completed in 2023 with the help of local labour. Huge amounts of sand were sustainably dredged to create a 760-metre-long and 100-metre-wide seawall. This ‘reclaimed’ land is 2.5 metres above the highest astronomical flood level and will provide shelter for 60 per cent of the population for at least the next 80 years. Assuming there is sufficient funding for Phase 2, the entire population of Tuvalu’s capital – around 6,000 people – will be able to move to higher ground. An additional effect is that the seawall will be silted up, allowing Tuvaluans to create community gardens, giving them more access to fresh produce and less reliance on expensive food imports.
UNDP Coastal Protection and Land Reclamation Project. Photo provided by UN Foundation.
In Tonga and Fiji, UNICEF, USAID and the World Health Organization are working in hospitals and health centers to provide integrated immunization and nutrition programs. In Fiji, for example, we visited Nausori Hospital, where nurses benefited from a UNICEF program that trained staff to manage severe acute malnutrition (SAM). SAM, the most visible and life-threatening form of malnutrition, affects about 13 million children worldwide. Once diagnosed, these nurses can now give children: Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) – an inexpensive, energy-rich micronutrient paste that literally saves lives.
We also learned about broader efforts, such as UNICEF’s “Prepare my food” Initiative. UNICEF works with local government and young people to propose healthier ways to prepare popular foods. The data generated from these programs and whether they are received and adopted by locals are equally relevant in our communities where ultra-processed foods are contributing to a rise in obesity. In fact, obesity rates in the United States have more than doubled since 1980 and are the highest among the wealthiest nations in the world.
As we flew over Fiji on our way home, a seemingly small dot against a vast blue veil, we reflected on the fragile context in which this work takes place – and the increasing fragility of continued support for the kind of life-saving projects we had just seen. astonishing short-sighted calls When some of our colleagues disproportionately cut funding to the State Department, USAID, and especially the United Nations—which would cause unnecessary suffering in many countries—we realized why foreign aid is important. It is critical because learning to address climate challenges head-on or respond to emerging health threats is not just a global problem, but a local one. When we help these remote places, no matter how many miles away they are, we learn to help ourselves.
A view of Tuvalu. Photo provided by the UN Foundation.
