We are the forgotten ones in the climate crisis, but here’s our solution

Polymetallic nodules can provide the alternative energy source we require for an abundant, scalable alternative that could prevent a low-carbon future being held to ransom by a handful of actors, writes Margo Deiye

The prize, of regulated nodule collection, is clear – not only for countries like Nauru but for everyone (Getty Images)

We are the forgotten ones. In the discussions on climate change and how best to combat it, poorer countries such as mine are often overlooked. Yet we’ve already paid a heavy price for other parts of the world seeking to advance and develop.

As Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley put it, we “face double jeopardy”. Our people, land and resources were exploited to fuel the industrial revolution elsewhere, and we are now expected to bear the brunt of the destructive consequences of that industrial revolution with little support.

My nation is the small Pacific island of Nauru. Our story follows an all-too depressingly familiar path. For a century, Nauru was targeted as a rich source of phosphate. Thanks to heavy mining by the colonial powers, 80 per cent of our land has been rendered uninhabitable. As a result, we don’t have access to resources and to territory that could support our own socio-economic development. The damage to the centre of the island means we are forced to live along the shoreline, where rising sea levels threaten our freshwater supplies, our homes and ultimately our very existence.