Aiming to avoid a humanitarian crisis, Kiribati recently purchased land in Fiji — about 1,200 miles away — where its residents would be relocated in the event that sea-level rise drowns the Pacific island nation and displaces its population of just over 100,000 people [...]
Contributing very little to the greenhouse gases that most scientists agree fuel climate change, Kiribati is among the least responsible for the present climate crisis. — Al Jazeera
As atmospheric CO2 levels near 402 ppm without any significant curtailing of industrial production by the major nations of the global economy, time is running out for many of the poorest and most vulnerable countries. The UN and other transnational bodies are beginning to seem like echo chambers for the leaders of island nations like Kiribati and the Marshall Islands. The sad irony of global warming is that it is countries least responsible for it that will bear the most burden.
Some architects are producing imaginative designs for adaptive structures. For example, LILYPAD is a project by Belgian architect Vincent Callebaut. Described as a "prototypical auto-sufficient amphibious city," the project would adapt to rising sea levels while serving as a shelter for climate refugees.
But let's be real: adaptive strategies are fundamentally out of the question for countries without the resources for expensive architectural projects – ie. the countries that need them the most. Efforts by nations like Kiribati to prepare in advance rather than risk the tragedy of a disaster-produced migration are made more difficult by the inhospitality of their neighbors. New Zealand, for example, recently refused climate refugee status to a Kiribati citizen.
Will developed economies begin to take responsibility for the problems they created? How can architects develop adaptive strategies that don't require excessive capital?