After a 12-month delay, it is officially Olympic season! Our team at Arbor is already enjoying the festivities!
As we enjoy the competition though, we would like to highlight one specific country that is participating: Kiribati, located in the South Pacific. The country has a population of 119,000 and will be sending three athletes to represent it to Tokyo. Kiribati has been called a “drowning paradise” due to its increasing rise in sea level each year. It is believed Kiribati will be the first country to be completely submerged due to climate change.
The effects of climate change have become increasingly apparent all over the world, but Kiribati faces an immediate threat. Even if all global climate policy goals are met, Kiribati will likely be uninhabitable by 2100. To prepare, the government has begun to purchase land in Fiji in order to move inhabitants of Kiribati when the time comes.
As you know, we here at Arbor like to be a part of the solution. As a part of the Arbor Saves Summer campaign, we have decided to be Kiribati’s (unofficial) sponsor! We will be offsetting the climate impact of their athlete’s travel to Tokyo, approximately 22 hours of air travel total for the three athletes who are representing Kiribati: Lataisi Mwea, Kinaua Biribo, and Ruben Katoatau.
We know that eliminating the climate impact of their travel to the games doesn’t make up for the destruction of their native homeland, but this is a small token of support from Arbor as Kiribati faces the direct effects of climate change. Kiribati serves as a lesson to the very real impacts of climate change and a reminder to do our part while we still can.
Do you want to get involved? There are non-profits that are trying to help the people of Kiribati grapple with the impacts of climate change, like the Kiribati Project, with the goal of supporting Kiribati citizens. More broadly, make sure to eliminate the impact of your negative climate actions with Arbor — each time you purchase the elimination of a tank of gas, your home’s electrical usage, or a flight, you’re funding the removal of carbon from the atmosphere, which helps the residents of Kiribati and all of us reverse the climate damage we’ve done.
Learn more about the uncertain future of Kiribati here.