Watch the viral Tuvalu COP26 climate plea recorded from the ocean

Behind-the-scenes images of the pre-recorded address went viral on social media last week.

Simon Kofe during the film shoot for his COP26 statement.

Simon Kofe during the film shoot for his COP26 statement. Source: Facebook/Ministry of Justice, Communication and Foreign Affairs, Tuvalu Government

A video of Tuvalu's foreign minister standing thigh-deep in seawater and pleading for help as his country slips beneath rising oceans has been played at the UN climate summit in Glasgow.

Behind-the-scenes images of the video .

In the pre-recorded video, played at COP26 on Tuesday, Simon Kofe tells delegates that "climate change and sea-level rise are deadly and existential risks for Tuvalu and low-lying atoll nations". 

"We are sinking, but so is everyone else," he said. 

"And no matter if we feel the effects today, like Tuvalu, or in a hundred years we will all still feel the dire effects of this global crisis."



The film begins with a close-up Mr Kofe standing at a lectern, wearing a suit and tie, in front of a blue screen with Tuvalu and UN flags. 

"We are demanding that global net-zero be secured by mid-century, that 1.5 degrees be kept within reach, that urgently needed climate finance be mobilised to address loss and damage," he pleaded.  

"We are looking for the world to get its act together."

The camera then pulls out to reveal Kofe standing up to his thighs in the water off Tuvalu's coast.

Delegates are gathered at the COP26 summit to try and implement the goals of Paris Agreement of limiting global heating to "well below" two degrees Celsius and to a safer 1.5C cap if possible. 

Host Britain says it wants the conference, which runs until the weekend, to "keep 1.5C alive".
Based on latest national emissions-cutting plans, Earth is set to warm by 2.7C this century, according to the UN. 

Mr Kofe said his nation of 12,000 people was "preparing now for the worst-case scenario, where our lands disappear and our people must leave".

He also said it was pursuing "bold legal avenues" to ensure that Tuvalu's borders are still recognised internationally if or when its land territory is lost to climate change.

"We cannot wait for speeches when the sea is rising around us," he said. 

"We must take bold, alternative action today to secure tomorrow."

Footage of the address last week drew comparisons to a 2009 video by the government of the Maldives, which held a cabinet meeting underwater in scuba gear to show the dangers of rising sea levels.


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3 min read
Published 10 November 2021 6:25am
Updated 22 February 2022 5:22pm
Source: AFP, SBS



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