Rising Nations Initiative 2023-2024 To advance efforts towards protecting the statehood of Pacific Atoll countries, preserving their sovereignty and safeguarding the rights and heritage of affected populations. 

Key results: 
-	The White Paper on Tuvalu will be developed and published. 
-	The White Paper serves as a guiding instrument for national strategic planning and informed policymaking for Pacific Atoll countries. 
-	The White Paper will include a scientific assessment projecting the trends and climate impacts necessitating long-term adaptation planning and measures, including likely relocation, and exploring issues of resources and funding.
-	The White Paper Project will be used as policy guidance and will be based on cutting-edge modelling projections, research and data analysis. This will help prepare for ongoing trends toward total uninhabitability of the country.
-	The White Paper will lay out the scientific and field research basis, including consultations with affected communities, for national policy-making.

Justification for support:
As the climate crisis deepens, low-lying countries are already witnessing significant amounts of their territory being rendered uninhabitable and are facing the prospect of complete inundation from rising sea levels, threatening the political, social, economic, and cultural fabric of the countries. In the Pacific, atoll countries like Tuvalu face the risk of becoming completely uninhabitable in the next few decades, long before complete submersion by the end of the century. Despite efforts to draw attention to this impending disaster, little progress has been made by the international community to offer solutions to the unique challenges faced by Pacific Atoll countries as a result of sea level rise.

The preparation of the White Paper will focus on Tuvalu as a pilot country and involve public consultations, the conclusions of which will inform the paper; this experience will inform and generate synergy for the preparation of white papers for other Pacific atoll countries that will be supported by RNI after Tuvalu.