Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are among the most exposed to the challenges imposed by global warming because of the sea-related risks like coastal erosion, saline intrusion into freshwater and marine inundation [1]: this, coupled with high socioeconomic vulnerability and limited capacities of the public and private sectors, has made them a priority on the latest COP events and IPCC reports. In consideration of the rapid population growth and urbanization, atoll countries have engaged in the construction of coastal protection areas like seawalls and breakwaters which are typical adaptation measures against climate change despite the recognition of the adverse impacts of these structures on coastal processes and environments. One of the largest projects of this kind, has been launched in 2017 as a flagship initiative in the atoll of Kiribati [2].

The country has a population of almost 10,000 people and a whole surface area not larger than 26 Km2: it is the fourth smallest country in the world, after Vatican City, Monaco and Nauru. The country includes three reef islands and six atolls in the midst of the Polinesian islands whose maximum height is 4.5 m a.s.l. while on average it never exceeds 1.83 m. All of these make the country one of the most vulnerable to climate change and sea-level rise. To complicate things even further, the country is subjected to extraordinary tides: the fiercer ones are called by residents “King Tide” and can reach peaks higher than 3 meters submerging the main road of the island along with the houses built near the shores.

The Tuvalu Coastal Adaptation Project can rely on 36 million dollars from the Green Climate Fund, 2.9 from the local government and 1.3 from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and so far has focused on land reclamation and the construction of a 2.7 Km of resilient coastal barrier across the three key islands of Funafuti (which is the capital), Nanumea and Nanumanga. These measures have significantly reduced inundation during King Tides and storm surges and have made Tuvalu the first country in the Pacific to access climate finance. The project is using cutting-edge technology like the LiDAR-based hazard dashboard that allows the government to move from reactive emergency response to predictive urban planning with an extremely fine precision. Until now, detailed and accurate measurement of land height and its relationship to sea level has not existed for the majority of atoll islands in the Pacific region, including Tuvalu so using this technology has filled the gap of this crucial missing baseline to support detailed understanding and responding to wave and sea level rise impacts. As a follow up of the project, a new urbanistic scheme will follow, prioritizing the safety of the residents and the critical infrastructures like the airport. The hospital will be built inland leaving a buffer zone to separate it from the sea but there will also be wastewater collection plants for the airport that will be purified and used against water scarcity [3].