Australia, Tuvalu to Lock in Climate Asylum Visa

Australia will offer up to 280 visas each year to people from the tiny Pacific Island of Tuvalu, which it says is under threat by rising sea levels. Under the Falepili Union treaty, which comes into force on Aug. 28, Australia will fund climate adaptation and development projects. The small Polynesian state is the world’s lowest-lying nation and is threatened by climate change, according to its government and the United Nations. In one of his first actions since arriving at the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Tonga, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is prepped to meet with Tuvaluan counterpart Feleti Teo. Albanese first signalled the agreement at last year’s Forum, and Teo confirmed that both countries are ready to ratify it....