TUVALU Prime Minister Feleti Teo has called for a stronger global response that treats climate action and ocean management as one agenda, warning that low-lying island states can no longer afford to plan for the two separately.
Addressing the Climate Resilience Plenary at the Island States Ocean Summit in Tokyo, Teo said Tuvalu is already facing the effects of sea-level rise and warming oceans in daily life.
“Climate change is our reality. It is no longer a projection or mere speculation. It is a daily occurrence and a lived reality.”
Teo said the impacts are visible across the country, citing coastal erosion, coral bleaching, changing fish migration patterns and growing threats to livelihoods and food security.
“For Tuvalu, these are not distant warnings but immediate pressures shaping how communities live, work and survive.”
He told delegates that climate resilience must be built through an integrated framework that links ocean governance, climate adaptation, ecosystems, infrastructure and communities.
“For Tuvalu, Sustainable Ocean Planning and Management should not be a planning exercise only, but a survival framework.”
The prime minister highlighted the Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project as a practical example of that approach.
Through the project, Tuvalu has reclaimed 15.5 hectares of elevated, flood-free land while strengthening coastal resilience and supporting national development.
He presented the project as evidence that adaptation can deliver both protection and development benefits when climate policy and ocean planning are aligned.
Teo also used the Tokyo forum to press for wider international recognition of what he called the climate-ocean nexus.
Looking ahead to the Pre-COP31 Special Leaders Side Event that Tuvalu will host in October, he urged the global community to make sustainable ocean planning a central part of climate action.
His remarks carried weight for other island states confronting similar risks, where rising seas, degraded marine ecosystems and unstable food systems are converging into a broader security challenge.
By framing ocean management as a survival issue rather than a technical policy debate, Teo positioned Tuvalu’s experience as a warning to the wider world.
“For nations on the front line of climate change, adaptation can no longer be treated as an abstract policy goal. It must be built into the way governments plan for land, livelihoods and the future of their coastlines.”
