“My project studies the impact of climate change on human mobility in the small island states of the Pacific. Given their low elevation, many South Pacific States are portrayed as ‘sinking islands’. This region is already facing severe collective problems as a result of slow-onset environmental changes, such as rising sea levels, ocean acidification, and increasingly intense hurricanes. This picture was taken during field work in Kiribati, a group of 33 low-lying atoll islands, where rising sea level is causing erosion or loss of land and salinisation of water. The population is increasingly concerned by the possibility that they might lose their homes and be forced to move internally or to another country. The picture shows the building of walls as a possible strategy to mitigate the gradual increase of sea level”.

“The picture conveys the feeling of imminent danger: rising sea levels, made visible here through a protective wall. It presents a tangible example of contrasts: the hard-to-perceive phenomenon of global warming on the one hand, and its impact on the daily life of inhabitants on the other, here represented by mundane clothes lines. The island is still there, but for how long?”