Kiribati envisages ‘crazy’ plan of floating isles

Giant floating islands, castle-like sea walls and mass migration are amo-ng some of the “crazy” plans the leader of Kirib-ati has to save his low-lying Pacific nation from global warming-induced oblivion.

Scientists warn rising sea levels caused by climate change will submer-ge many islands around the world and the 33 of Kiribati, barely two met-res above sea level, could be among the first.

Kiribati President Ano-te Tong is in Paris this week to try to convince negotiators at a UN conference who are aiming to forge an historic pact to tame global warming that they must unite behind the best possible deal. Bu-t, fearing that powerful nations will continue ra-mpant coal burning and other activities that relea-se heat-trapping greenhouse gases, Mr Tong is preparing for the worst.

“I’m sure you think I’m crazy, but we’ve got a crazy situation,” Mr Tong said, as he outlined some of the contingency plans for Kiribati’s 1,00,000 people.

“These kinds of events have never happened before, we are a country under serious threat. The strategies I’ve been advocating are somewhat radical, but I assure you they are not. They are as realistic as we can make them,” he said.

Among those strategies is the construction of floating islands, anchored to the sea, that could sustain up to 30,000 people for a century. “The question is: do we have any other options,” Mr Tong responded when asked if creating the world’s first floating nation was a serious proposal. “It’s radical, unprecedented, way out of the box, but in the absence of other options, unless you can come up with alternatives, I’m afraid that these are the options available to us.”