During COP27, the Tuvalu Government made a groundbreaking and heartbreaking announcement: to preserve the island nation from rising sea levels, it would recreate itself in the metaverse and become the first entirely digital nation.
The initiative deserved global attention but had zero media budget. So we put our hands up to handle the PR pro-bono and enacted a global call to arms against climate inaction. Our multi-channel communications plan combined media relations and minister interviews, political and environmental influencer relations and SEO, aiming to not only generate global awareness and public action, but also to encourage countries around the world to stick to their Paris Agreement goals.
The First Digital Nation campaign shot to the #1 trend on Google on launch day and attracted thousands of signatures calling for urgent climate action from across the world. And not only did governments see it, but they acted – with 7 other countries now recognising Tuvalu’s status as the only digital nation, and in November 2023, the inking of a world-first agreement with Australia to offer Australian residency to Tuvalu citizens.