Nauru turns to bold climate-smart development as 80% of land lies degraded

Nauru is facing a climate adaptation challenge unlike most other Pacific nations -- nearly 80% of its land is degraded from decades of phosphate mining, leaving precious little space to house communities threatened by sea level rise.

Kalvary Porte, Project Manager at Nauru’s Climate Action Division, told the Pacific Climate Change Roundtable in Apia that the country’s survival hinges on transforming this damaged land into climate-resilient communities.

“Food, water, energy and displacement, these are our security threats in the face of climate change,” Porte said.

“With so much land degraded, every square meter must be used wisely.”

The solution is the Higher Ground Initiative (HGI), a master plan to rehabilitate mined land and build “smart villages” that combine green housing, renewable energy, water security, and food production.

The plan was designed after an all-of-government process that produced over 1,000 pages of technical reports, informed by a climate vulnerability assessment.

The first HGI project, a smart village on eight hectares of government-owned land, will feature 100 single-family lots, 40 apartments, commercial spaces, and extensive green areas.

All homes will integrate solar power, rainwater harvesting, and energy-efficient designs that Nauruans can build and maintain themselves.

Porte said the approach is deliberately long-term, resisting the temptation for quick fixes like imported container homes.

“It would not have significantly improved the broader resilience of our communities or our economy,” he said.

“We need good planning and good urbanism to provide adequate housing, increase food production, restore ecosystems, and create jobs.”

With rising seas threatening up to 20% of Nauru’s current housing, the smart village model is designed to scale up into larger townships if necessary — potentially housing the entire population.

“This is what greater security will look like for us in Nauru,” Porte said. “To build something worthwhile, you need to be bold and visionary.”