Pacific state needs billions for its ambitious plan – its president demands wealthy nations act to help now
Developing countries vulnerable to the worst ravages of global heating have spent the past week at United Nations climate talks urging more support from wealthy nations. The Pacific state of Kiribati has a very specific and unusual demand – that its islands be physically raised up to escape the encroaching seas.
The plan to dig up huge clumps of sand and rocks from the seabed and layer them upon the thin coral atolls that make up Kiribati’s sparse landmass will cost “in the billions” of dollars, the country’s president Taneti Maamau told the Guardian.
