Australia offers refuge to people of ‘sinking’ islands

Citizens of the climate-threatened Pacific nation Tuvalu will get "special rights" to live and work in Australia under a landmark treaty unveiled by the two countries on Friday.

Unveiling a compact that includes freedom of movement and defense guarantees, prime ministers Anthony Albanese of Australia and Kausea Natano of Tuvalu said the two nations would work to tackle climate change, while preparing for the worst.

"Australia has committed to provide a special pathway for citizens of Tuvalu to come to Australia, with access to Australian services that will enable human mobility with dignity," a joint statement of Albanese and Natano said.

The treaty would also commit Australia to defend Tuvalu in the case of foreign invasion or natural disaster.

Tuvalu, with a population of just 11,000 people, is among the world's most vulnerable nations due to rising sea levels.

Two of Tuvalu's nine atolls have already largely disappeared under the waves, and climate scientists fear the entire archipelago will be entirely uninhabitable within the next 80 years.

Natano told Agence France-Presse last month that unless drastic action is taken to limit climate change Tuvalu would risk "disappearing from the surface of this Earth."