Saving the world from global warming

China responded immediately. It severed diplomatic ties, dismantled the station within days and withdrew all aid, infrastructure and medical support. It maintains a presence, leading to speculation that it may return given a more friendly government.

Not everyone agrees with the diagnosis of Kiribati's problems provided by Tong, Ban Ki-Moon and Bob Carr.

Tong's own Office of Te Beretitenti (Office of the President) reports that "there is evidence that at present, climate change is not the main cause of coastal erosion, water shortages or overcrowding. Other issues, especially population growth and the move to Western lifestyles, are having a more immediate impact."

South Tarawa, the capital, is home to more than 51,000 people - 5,000 per square kilometre, almost five times the population density of Bangladesh.

The people are camped on top of the water supply - a freshwater lens which, being less dense than seawater, floats on top of it. The weight of the fresh water pushes down the surface of the sea water…The amount of fresh water in the lens is a balance between what is added and what is withdrawn or lost. When it rains, a floating lens of fresh water forms, which goes up and down with the underlying sea water.

Rising sea levels will not cause fresh water to mix with the seawater, the lens simply rises on top of it. Human activities can alter the water level, or pollute it. Over pumping depletes it.

The population of South Tarawa is building toilets and burying their dead in close proximity to the lens. The Office of Te Beretitenti (OTB) reports: "Most households…use rain water and groundwater for drinking, cooking, and cleaning. However, groundwater fetched from wells…is not suitable for human consumption…universally microbiologically contaminated and should not be used for drinking or cooking…without being boiled. Worse, in the main settlements…chemicals and heavy metal in the water lens have been found…the water is unsuitable for drinking even after it has been boiled."

The problem is caused by an explosion in population growth, and "the lack of a water reserve management plan linked to a lack of will for curbing unacceptable practices affecting lens water quality…Kiribati has an extremely high incidence of water-borne diseases with an infant mortality rate amongst the highest in the Pacific at 46 per 1,000 live births, which is attributed to infantile diarrhoea. The World Health Organization (WHO) and health officials report an average of three outbreaks of diarrhoea annually directly linked to poor water supplies, inadequate sanitation, unsafe practices and poor public hygiene…diseases spread very quickly and easily because of overcrowding, poor ventilation, and dirty surroundings.

"Currently unemployment and under-employment are a serious problem… In 2010 only 34% of urban people over 15 years of age were engaged in cash work. Of the remainder, 21% were unemployed, 5% were engaged in voluntary or subsistence work, and 41% were not in the labour force... In total, two thirds (66%) of adults …are either out of the labour force, unemployed or engaged in subsistence activities.

Only 23 per cent of Kiribati's population receives any sort of cash income -and the vast majority of these people are in government jobs.

"Every year, households…slip further into debt…People, mostly men, spend their evenings singing and drinking kava, and then spend the whole morning of the next day sleeping, or if employed… perform half awake…at work the following day."

Climate change was not Ban Ki-Moon's only concern. He emphasised the importance of raising the status of women.