More than a third of the population of Tuvalu has applied to move to Australia, under a landmark visa scheme designed to help people escape rising sea levels.
The island nation – roughly halfway between Hawaii and Australia – is home to about 10,000 people, according to the latest government statistics, living across a clutch of tiny islets and atolls in the South Pacific. According to Tuvalu's Prime Minister Feleti Teo, more than half of Tuvalu will be regularly inundated by tidal surges by 2050. By 2100, 90% of his nation will be regularly under water, he says.
On June 16, Australia opened a roughly one-month application window for what it says is a one-of-a-kind visa offering necessitated by climate change. Under the new scheme, Australia will accept 280 visa winners from a random ballot between July and January 2026. The Tuvaluans will get permanent residency on arrival in Australia, with the right to work and access public healthcare and education.
Australia's support for the Pacific island nation has stood in stark contrast in recent months to US President Donald Trump's administration, which has imposed sweeping crackdowns on climate policies and immigration. Tuvalu is among a group of 36 countries that the Trump administration is looking to add to the current travel ban list, according to the Associated Press.
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The UK construction sector displayed meaningful movement toward sustainability and measurable decarbonisation during the past week. The Alliance for Sustainable Building Products strengthened the ACAN Circular Economy Policy Campaign, signalling stronger support for circular economy in construction. The partnership aims to embed life cycle thinking in construction through improved material reuse, reduced reliance on virgin resources, and end-of-life reuse in construction. This approach reinforces sustainable construction practices by shifting attention to building lifecycle performance and whole life carbon assessment, ensuring that sustainability becomes measurable through transparent carbon data from design to demolition.
Equans, the energy and services arm of Bouygues, achieved Building a Safer Future ‘Champion’ status, demonstrating both compliance and leadership in sustainable building design. The recognition highlights its role in retrofit projects where embodied carbon in materials and life cycle cost carry weight equal to financial metrics. Equans’ work in regenerating existing housing stock supports low carbon design and promotes net zero whole life carbon outcomes, setting a benchmark for green construction that integrates resource efficiency in construction with rigorous whole life carbon analysis.
A key development came from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, whose review of energy-from-waste processes pinpointed plastic’s lingering presence in material streams. The proposed reforms encourage a shift toward renewable building materials and more responsible waste strategies, aligning with environmental sustainability in construction goals and reducing the carbon footprint of construction. The review also stresses that circular construction strategies contribute to net zero carbon buildings, supporting eco-friendly construction systems and reducing environmental impact through lifecycle assessment and whole life carbon metrics.
Climate Analytics advanced the conversation on decarbonising the built environment by urging major global polluters in cement and fossil fuel industries to fund direct air carbon capture and storage. By placing financial responsibility on carbon-intensive producers, sustainable material specification and embodied carbon reduction become drivers for cost management and carbon footprint reduction. The anticipated result is a market environment that rewards low embodied carbon materials and low carbon construction materials, providing long-term life cycle cost benefits while propelling the transition to carbon neutral construction.
Further evidence of circular economy integration emerged from research into telecommunications infrastructure, demonstrating that applying eco-design for buildings principles across all built assets—including masts and modular structures—can deliver both sustainability and economic return. The study supports life cycle cost optimisation and reinforces green building products as viable contributors to sustainable urban development. Across every project, from retrofits to new builds, the emphasis is moving decisively toward sustainable building practices that deliver measurable outcomes in carbon reduction, resource efficiency, and net zero carbon performance within the broader fabric of an environmentally responsible and resilient construction sector.
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