Tuvalu Proverbs (17)

Tuvalu mo te Atua.

“Tuvalu for the Almighty.”

The national motto of Tuvalu, expressing the nation's foundation on deep religious faith and its dependence on a higher power for protection and guidance.

“Eight standing together.”

The literal meaning of the name "Tuvalu," referring to the eight traditionally inhabited coral atolls that united to form the nation; a ninth island, Niulakita, was settled later.

Tefolaha, tou hoa!

“Tefolaha, my friend!”

A libation phrase spoken by the people of Nanumea while pouring the last of a drink onto the ground, honoring their founding ancestor-spirit Tefolaha and invoking his continued protection.

“The beauty in the Pacific lies in the unity of hearts.”

A line from the Tuvaluan fatele song "A galiga o fenua," calling on people to put their efforts together for the things their community and their ocean environment need.

“Kaitasi: the land, the decisions, and the harvest belong to all of us together.”

The Tuvaluan value of kaitasi, or shared ownership — land, resources, and decision-making are held communally among family and community rather than as individual property.

“Alofa is caring for those who have no land of their own.”

Alofa (love, compassion) obliges Tuvaluans to look after community members without land or family able to fish and farm for them, extending even to outsiders in need.

“Climate change is the single greatest challenge facing my country. It is threatening the livelihood, security and wellbeing of all Tuvaluans.”

Delivered as part of Tuvalu's national statement to the UN climate conference, framing rising seas as an existential threat rather than a distant environmental issue.

“We cannot wait for the speeches when the sea is rising around us all the time. Climate mobility must come to the forefront. We must take bold alternative action today to secure tomorrow.”

Delivered as part of Kofe's COP26 video address, filmed with him standing knee-deep in the sea off Funafuti to dramatize Tuvalu's exposure to sea-level rise.

“The grave injustice or irony of the threat of climate change is that climate change is not of our making, but it will certainly remake us.”

A reflection on climate justice made in the context of the Falepili Union treaty negotiations, capturing Tuvalu's position that it bears almost no responsibility for a crisis that could remake or erase its territory.

Te sina o fenua.

“The grey-hairs of the land speak for the island.”

A traditional term for the Falekaupule, the council of elders on each Tuvaluan island, literally "the grey-hairs of the land" — the elders whose age and experience give them authority to speak and decide on behalf of their community.

“Fenua is not property — it is land, people, and belonging held as one.”

The Tuvaluan concept of fenua fuses homeland, ancestry, community, and identity into a single idea; the land is understood as family and memory rather than something owned, which is why its loss to rising seas is felt as a threat to identity itself.

“Falepili: care for your neighbour as you would care for your own family.”

Falepili, meaning good neighbourliness, is a foundational Tuvaluan value describing mutual care, respect, and responsibility between neighbours, whether close by or across great distance; it later gave its name to the 2023 Falepili Union treaty with Australia.

“Climate change is a slow and insidious form of terrorism against us.”

Sopoanga used this characterization to describe how rising seas threaten Tuvalu's survival gradually rather than suddenly, arguing it deserved the same urgency as any direct security threat.

“For atoll nations like Tuvalu, the gravities of sea level rise are now unalterable and emission restrictions will no longer help us. For Tuvalu we urgently require the means to build raised reclamation land to save ourselves.”

Delivered at the COP26 High-Level Segment, this statement argued that for a nation already this low-lying, cutting emissions alone can no longer prevent harm — physical adaptation such as land reclamation is now necessary for survival.

“The warming seas are starting to swallow our lands, inch by inch. But the world's addiction to oil, gas and coal can't sink our dreams under the waves.”

Spoken as Tuvalu became the first nation to call for a global Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, pairing a warning about incremental land loss with a declaration that Tuvalu would keep pressing for change regardless.

“The world has not acted, and so we in the Pacific have had to act. We have no choice but to become the world's first digital nation.”

Spoken while launching Tuvalu's Digital Nation initiative, a project to preserve the country's government, culture, and territory in digital form as a hedge against the possibility of physical submersion.

“This agreement that we have worked on together is about Tuvalu's sovereignty. It is about safeguarding our collective future, and it is about supporting the people of Tuvalu to stay and thrive here on our islands, or, if they choose, to live, work and study in Australia.”

Made at a press conference defending the Falepili Union treaty against domestic concerns that it ceded Tuvaluan sovereignty, framing the agreement instead as a guarantee of choice and continuity for Tuvaluans.