Let's forget about negotiating against nature.
Come on, let's wake up, it's not about that.
It's about what nature can continue to take.
Are we moving beyond the threshold point?
And if we are, it doesn't matter who wants what.
We'll all be gone.
We may be the first ones to go,
if we go beyond the tipping points.
Anote Tong is the former president
of this place, Kiribati.
Smack-bang in the middle of the Pacific Ocean,
it's home to just over 100,000 people
who live across 33 islands
that on average sit just two metres above sea level,
but that is changing fast.
Can you paint a picture for us about what life is like on Kiribati?
Beautiful.
I guess we are blessed
to be in one of the most beautiful parts of the world
where people dream of going.
Pretty much remain a traditional society,
catching your fish, growing your crops,
but of course, at the same time we...
our very geography now poses... presents threats.
The world's leading scientists say
that in our lifetime your home could be under water.
How soon could that become a reality?
Based on what the science is saying,
they will be totally under water within maybe 50 years,
I really don't know.
Do people in Kiribati know about the fact that they may have to move?
Is that a daily reality for them?
There is denial,
and it's an emotional thing, I understand that.
I've been challenged,
you know "Stop talking like that. Stop scaring us."
There is this thinking that somehow it would be addressed.
Sometimes we...
we put it to God, that He is going to deal with it.
I think we trust in the authorities to do something about it.
And this is why, to some extent, this is what drives me
because I know about it, I believe I can do something about it
and therefore should be doing something about it.
What are some of the challenges that have already come about
because of rising sea levels?
Well, we've had a village gone
in an island where I grew up as a young child, where I went to school.
- A whole village? - A whole village,
and the only building left is the church.
It's frightening for the people.
We're not used to seeing this.
It damaged homes, destroyed food crops,
damaged the water lines.
So, we have to undertake some very radical adaptation strategies
to build climate resilience.
You've floated some other options,
in terms of floating islands, advances in technology,
what are some of these options and how likely are they?
Building floating islands, which could accommodate people,
self-sufficient in water, energy and everything else,
it didn't sound like a bad option,
it's a bit strange, a bit science fiction.
But then, people like Richard Branson is talking about
building hotels in space, so why not this?
So, in 2014, you took the pretty unusual step
of buying a large parcel of land in Fiji.
What would that future look like?
Moving a whole nation of people to a parcel of land,
in another country.
The purpose of buying that land
is to send a very strong message to the international community
which had not been responding to our calls
for something to be done.
The invitation from the Fiji Government to say
"If ever the people of Kiribati and Tuvalu
"would need a place to go due to climate change,
"then Fiji would be willing to receive them."
Fiji has been the only one that has stepped forward.
For those of us whose survival,
whose very survival is at stake,
our plea is very simple,
let us not pay lip service to an issue
that demands immediate and urgent action.
You've spoken to a lot of people,
to the UN, the Pope, media around the world about climate change.
Do you feel like people are listening?
I don't believe that I've always made people listen.
I think a lot of people still don't listen. That is sad.
Why climate is changing
is because we've become so materialistic
as to exploit everything, at any cost,
and especially the politicians
who are really far focused on what it means for the next election,
not the next generation.
The United States will withdraw
from the Paris Climate Accord.
The world's leading experts on climate change
have released a report saying that crisis could come as early as 2040
and we need to take drastic action in the next 12 years.
And a lot of people have seen this as a wake-up call.
Has this come too late?
I think it's getting very late and I think,
especially in the light of some of the commentary
coming forward from our political leaders,
we've got to unplug whatever it is that's plugging their ears,
making them deaf to this call.
It is urgent. It is serious.
If you cannot change your policy in response to a very clear,
clear, science coming forward, then maybe you should not be there.
The majority of Australians want to do something about it.
I hear people, a lot of people, people here in Australia,
but the Government is not doing it, but you put the Government there
so don't disengage yourself from the responsibility.
You talk about your grandchildren quite a bit
when you're making speeches,
do you think that gets the message across to people?
Why I am saying that is we've been given custody.
I really want to be able to hand it down
from me to my grandchildren, so they can survive.
For the people in Australia,
so that the next generation can have the Great Barrier Reef,
still to enjoy.
It's not always just about you first.
Think about us, not me.
And I think, if we can start doing that,
maybe we got a hope of turning this around.
Is there a future
where the people of Kiribati will be able to stay?
Absolutely.
We should not accept the possibility that we would disappear.
But if we do nothing, then definitely we will disappear.