The meeting between Teburoto Tito, Thomas Schirrmacher and Matthias Böhning took place in the WEA UN office in New York opposite of the UN headquarter.

Teburoro Tito (pronounced Seetoh) is a Kiribati politician who served as President and Foreign Minister of Kiribati from 1994 to 2003. Through his speeches at the UN, his interviews with international media and his active participation in international climate conferences, Tito drew attention to the harmful effects of global warming on his country and other South Pacific island nations. Kiribati is particularly threatened by climate change. According to calculations by the World Bank, the island nation could be largely uninhabitable by 2050 and flooded by 2070 at the latest.

Tito was appointed by President Taneti Maamau as Ambassador to the United States (2018) and Permanent Representative of Kiribati to the United Nations (2017).

The Republic of Kiribati is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean. The national territory covers a large number of islands of Micronesia and Polynesia scattered over a wide area north and south of the equator. Kiribati was formerly part of the British Gilbert and Ellic Islands. Since independence from the United Kingdom in 1979, the anniversary of independence, has been Kiribati’s national holiday. Kiribati remains a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. Kiribati’s atoll Kiritimati (“Christmas Island”) is the first in the world to celebrate New Year’s Day.