Today Tuvalu, tomorrow the world

Almost one-third of the South Pacific island’s 10,000 residents entered a lottery whose 280 lucky winners would get a special climate-change visa that entitles them to live in Australia.

The key fact in any discussion about climate refugees is that the tropical countries—like the South Pacific island of Tuvalu—will be hit sooner and harder than those closer to the poles, writes Gwynne Dyer.Photograph courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Opinion

BY GWYNNE DYER

July 3, 2025

LONDON, U.K.—Some big changes arrive with a bang, but usually they sort of sneak in and you barely notice them at first. Last week’s big change saw the creation of the world’s first climate-change visas. It’s a way of giving potential climate refugees some hope and s...

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