President Anote Tong

His Excellency Anote Tong is the current Beretitenti (President) of the Republic of Kiribati. He was elected in 2003 and reelected in 2007.

Kiribati (pronounced Kiribas) is an independent republic located in the central Pacific Ocean, about 4,000 km (about 2,500 mi) southwest of Hawaii. It is part of the division of the Pacific islands that is known as Micronesia. Of the 33 islands of Kiribati, 21 are inhabited. The combined population is ~100,000.

As the Arctic warms, its glaciers and ice sheets are melting fast. This is raising sea levels across the world, and places like Kiribati are extremely vulnerable to this process. [Note: melting Arctic sea ice does not affect sea levels. Ice has the same volume as melted water.]

Kiribati is often described as the ‘canary in the coalmine’ for climate change. The island is just two meters above sea level, and it’s already suffering the impacts of storm surges which are inundating low lying areas.

Kiribati already faces food and water shortages, as seawater contaminates groundwater supplies for the people who live there.