Kiribati could soon become uninhabitable due to climate change. Residents are using all available means to protect themselves from rising sea levels.
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - It's getting closer to the road
00:07 and it's getting closer to our homes
00:10 and slowly being destroyed by this course of climate change.
00:15 - Max Te'eia lives in Kiribati,
00:19 a South Pacific nation whose very existence is under threat.
00:22 Rising sea levels mean the entire country
00:25 could soon become uninhabitable.
00:28 - We're not going to run from the problems,
00:30 we're going to face it.
00:31 There are countries in the world where we have islands
00:34 and they've built their islands
00:35 because they have the two things.
00:36 They have the technology and they have the funds.
00:39 - The 120,000 residents of Kiribati want to stay here
00:45 and protect themselves as best as they can.
00:47 But how long can that last?
00:49 (upbeat music)
00:56 (wind blowing)
00:58 - When we were kids, the high tide usually
01:06 stops maybe from here.
01:09 Here, it stops here and now then,
01:15 as we are growing up, the high tide just moved,
01:20 moved and now it's hitting the land.
01:25 It's hitting the edge and it's getting,
01:28 it's corrupting everything.
01:30 As you can see, trees are falling down,
01:34 not enough sand to hold them
01:37 and it's getting close to the road.
01:39 And I think this is not, it's just the beginning.
01:42 Maybe it will keep on going.
01:46 Yeah, it was not always like that.
01:47 (upbeat music)
01:54 - It's getting closer to our homes
01:57 and it's a big deal for us.
02:02 Slowly being destroyed by this course of climate change.
02:07 - Kiribati is made up of 33 small islands
02:10 spread across the Pacific.
02:12 In some areas, the ground is three meters above the water,
02:15 but almost everywhere else, it's only one meter.
02:18 Rising sea levels are causing land to disappear.
02:22 The number of storms is increasing
02:24 and drinking water is becoming salty.
02:27 Max's grandfather, Kiraray Sioana,
02:29 has been living here since he was a child.
02:31 Scientists started noting a rapid rise
02:34 in sea levels in the 1990s.
02:36 - If the water continues to rise, it will erode our land.
02:42 The sea is drawing closer and closer
02:44 and will make our lives unpleasant, don't you think?
02:47 What should we do?
02:48 Maybe this is climate change,
02:50 but what can we do about it?
02:52 Nothing.
02:53 We can't do anything and we urgently need help.
02:56 - Not everyone in Kiribati thinks the situation is hopeless.
03:03 Pelonesi Alofa is a climate activist
03:05 and founder of Kirikan,
03:07 a local climate protection organization.
03:09 She and other campaigners bought this plot of land
03:12 when it was completely flooded.
03:14 Together, they work to build a wall and drain the land.
03:18 They want to show others that they are a resilient nation
03:20 and they don't want to leave.
03:23 - This is our resilient village.
03:25 We're always underwater when it's high tide.
03:29 We were not here, water will be right in the main road.
03:32 - Residents are braving the encroaching seawater.
03:35 They're teaching others how to grow food
03:38 in constantly salinized soil.
03:40 Pelonesi's nephew, Ralph Spring, is the gardener here
03:44 and he knows how cultivation can work in these conditions.
03:50 - This is growing food on raised beds over the ground
03:55 if your place is saltwater inundated.
03:59 And we also make our own soil.
04:03 And that's a skill that every household should know,
04:06 to plant their own food to be healthy.
04:07 We collect a lot of our browns.
04:10 These are chips made from all sorts of,
04:14 we have some leaves inside that are brown now,
04:16 some, as you can see, some of the sticks
04:20 from brushes and all.
04:22 This one will stay at the bottom
04:24 because we know this will take time to decompose
04:27 and then we'll put good soil on top.
04:29 That's what we'll use for planting.
04:30 - His services are a vital contribution
04:33 in a country where an increasing number of crops
04:36 are dying because of the saltwater.
04:39 But Pelonesi and her colleague, Maris Peter,
04:41 know that this won't fix everything.
04:44 They need more resources.
04:45 - You know, Kiribati, our government wanted
04:48 to raise islands there.
04:49 And maybe we do not have the means to do that.
04:53 But there are countries in the world where we have islands
04:56 and they've built their islands
04:57 because they have the two things.
04:59 They have the technology and they have the funds.
05:01 They have money.
05:02 Those are the two things to help us
05:04 to stop the problem that we're facing.
05:08 We're not going to run from the problems.
05:09 We're going to face it.
05:11 But we do not have those two things.
05:15 - It's not yet clear exactly how the main island
05:18 of Tarawa will be elevated.
05:20 The problem is that the island is densely populated.
05:23 Residential buildings, government buildings,
05:26 and hospitals would need to be demolished
05:28 before the island could be raised up and then rebuilt.
05:31 Another possibility is filling in
05:33 a kind of replacement island.
05:35 The government has remained tight-lipped
05:37 on these costly ideas, and so far,
05:39 nobody has responded to our requests for an interview.
05:43 China is one possible donor
05:45 because it works closely with Kiribati,
05:47 but the West fears new Chinese military bases
05:50 in the Pacific.
05:51 As yet, there's no information
05:53 on the Kiribati government's plan in this area.
05:56 Claire and Tangaroa Antarea say the same thing.
06:01 They live with their 10-year-old daughter
06:02 in a small house on Tarawa, the main island of Kiribati.
06:06 They say information about climate change
06:09 is only reaching the other islands very slowly
06:12 despite the visible changes.
06:15 So, because the term "climate change" for our people,
06:18 it's really a new word.
06:21 But they are aware of the changes
06:25 that are occurring in their island.
06:28 So, by answering that, I think it's definitely confusing.
06:34 But our people are facing the severe impact.
06:40 And I think we experience it in so many ways.
06:45 The water is already blackish.
06:47 Of course, we have a very narrow island,
06:51 but why now?
06:53 People used to have good water,
06:56 but why now that we have salty water?
07:00 Right now, water is the biggest problem.
07:03 Rising sea levels are pushing saltwater further inland,
07:07 making groundwater unusable.
07:09 Importing bottled drinking water is too expensive,
07:12 and rainwater is the only option for many people.
07:16 Tangaroa says you can no longer distinguish
07:18 between the rainy and dry seasons.
07:20 Sometimes it rains all the time,
07:22 sometimes not for years,
07:23 making the water supply inconsistent.
07:26 Because this one is full,
07:28 and I have to collect extra water
07:32 that we can use for our needs
07:37 because we drink rainwater.
07:40 Claire and Tangaroa also have a well in their garden.
07:44 Their water isn't salty
07:45 because they live in the middle of the island.
07:47 But that also means they have a lot of responsibility.
07:50 Not only do they drink from the well,
07:52 their neighbours also come here to get water.
07:55 That's why Tangaroa cleans it once a month,
07:58 and the neighbours help out.
08:04 Just to make sure that our water inside this,
08:09 this one is clean every day.
08:13 You know when we start building a house,
08:16 we don't have a water tank,
08:19 we don't have rainwater,
08:21 we use this well to drink.
08:27 We use it to drink this water.
08:32 We need to take care of this well, this water.
08:37 Just in case, no rain,
08:41 this is our water.
08:45 This is our drinking water.
08:47 Kiribati is full of solidarity.
08:53 Tangaroa is on his way to see his friend Tatabo Arawa'oa,
08:57 who lives right by the sea.
08:59 Like the other coastal residents,
09:01 he's built a wall in front of his house for protection.
09:04 It has been standing for 40 years
09:06 and has made seaside living possible
09:08 on the overcrowded island.
09:10 But that's gradually changing.
09:12 When they built the sea wall,
09:15 at that time, yeah,
09:16 they didn't have a problem with the sea.
09:20 And by that time,
09:21 things happened to the sea wall.
09:25 They start, the sea wall start
09:29 broken during the king's tides.
09:32 I get scared when the king tides come,
09:34 especially when it's windy.
09:36 My wall is always on the verge of breaking.
09:41 The next morning,
09:42 they survey the damage from the night before.
09:45 It wasn't as bad as Tatabo had feared,
09:47 but he still has to repair his wall.
09:50 A stone has come loose.
09:51 It's only a small repair needed today,
09:54 but it has to be done quickly.
09:57 If I don't fix this now,
09:59 the next flood this afternoon will cause even more damage.
10:02 Stones would break loose
10:03 and the land beneath it will just get washed away.
10:07 It can still be saved.
10:09 However, researchers predict that the rate
10:12 at which sea levels are rising will only accelerate.
10:15 More conservative calculations predict a rise
10:18 of 1.1 metres compared to the previous year.
10:22 Should that occur, Kiribati's fate would be uncertain.
10:26 But judging by the impact that the climate crisis
10:29 is already having on this small country,
10:31 it's reasonable to assume that land will continue
10:34 to shrink in the future,
10:36 and that drinking water will become even more scarce.
10:39 Without international aid,
10:41 residents could become climate refugees.
10:44 If our islands disappear from this earth,
10:47 then we will have no more land.
10:51 We will be nothing.
10:54 Because what is important for me is my culture,
10:58 my language, my people.
11:02 So I request to the world
11:05 that they need to sacrifice
11:09 and have compassion on the low-lying islands
11:12 like Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, Maldives,
11:16 and Kiribati, who are already affected
11:19 by the climate change impact.
11:23 The residents are committed,
11:27 but they need developed countries
11:29 to invest money and resources to save Kiribati.
11:32 There's even a song here about climate change.
11:35 Every child knows the words,
11:37 just like they know what climate change means for Kiribati.
11:41 Tangaroa's niece, Cindy Baranato, sings it in the choir.
11:45 # For myself
11:47 # Searching for my refuge
11:51 # As the world is getting worse
11:54 # Day and night
11:57 # My people and my future
12:02 # My country on my own
12:06 # Stand firm and staying strong
12:09 # Until the end of time
12:13 # Climate change is growing strong
12:17 # The rising wave will kill us all
12:20 # And we cry, yeah, we cry
12:24 # To the Lord to help me through. #
12:29 - [Woman] Ooh.