Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union Treaty, 9 November 2023

A groundbreaking agreement on climate mobility? Let’s stay cautious

Abstract

The Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union treaty established a “special human mobility pathway” between Australia and Tuvalu, the latter being a Pacific Island State whose territory is threatened by sea level rise. This bilateral agreement received broad international media coverage and has been qualified by many as a groundbreaking treaty. Nevertheless, many of its aspects remain unclear. Even if the annex documents to the treaty and the existing case law are tools to better understand these uncertainties, we should stay cautious about the scope of this bilateral agreement. In the end, it will take years of application and interpretation to fully understand the extent of the groundbreaking character of this agreement.