TUVALU’S Prime Minister Feleti Teo has argued that environmental instability and gender-based violence are deeply interconnected crises rather than separate issues.
Drawing on Tuvalu’s lived realities, he explained that climate-driven economic hardship and displacement are already reshaping household and community conditions, increasing risks for women and girls.
“The two often-overlooked impacts of climate change: the trauma of staying, where communities live daily with uncertainty about their future, and the trauma of moving, where women lose critical protections when migrating.”
To address these challenges, Teo outlined Tuvalu’s progress, including the recently endorsed We Care Guidelines, a national framework to respond to violence against women and girls, built through strong regional partnerships.
He was speaking at the Women Deliver 2026 Conference (WD2026), hosted in Melbourne, Australia.
While further calling for a shift in global financing approaches, he emphasised,” Women’s safety is not a social objective competing with climate investment… It is a measure of whether climate investment is working.”
The discussion during the conference reinforced a strong message from Tuvalu: climate action must be people-centred, and any meaningful response must address the realities faced by women and communities on the frontline.
