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The First Digital Nation
Agency The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song / Sydney + Collider / Sydney + Thrive PR + Communications / Sydney + MassiveMusic / Sydney
Category
Craft / Art Direction
Annual ID
OS23_DE164M
About the Work
Tuvalu, a low-lying Pacific nation, is facing an impossible challenge. At the current rate of global sea level rise, the entire country will be submerged in decades. As the ocean closes in, Tuvalu is forced to ask: What happens to a country without land?
At COP27, we launched a radical plan for survival: Tuvalu will become the world’s first digital nation.
Minister Simon Kofe appeared to address the audience from Teafualiku Islet, Tuvalu’s smallest island and the first part of the country that will be taken by the sea. Halfway through the speech, though, the island around him began to freeze and stutter; it was actually the first part of the digital nation.
Teafualiku Islet was painstakingly recreated using drone footage and topographical data. Tree-by-tree and stone-by-stone, the island was rebuilt as accurately as possible – but, of course, it could never come close to capturing the beauty the real thing. Carefully placed glitches revealed the inevitable shortcomings of a digital recreation; the dark, digital void around the island represented the last refuge of a nation with nowhere left to turn.
This image – a lone island, surrounded by a sea of darkness – became a powerful symbol of Tuvalu’s plight. The beginning of a decades-long digital migration.
Immediately after its debut at COP27, the campaign spread rapidly, reaching 2.1 billion people and 173 major global publications. That reach turned into action when, days after the announcement, a historic loss and damage fund for nations like Tuvalu was established at COP27. And already, nine different nations have agreed to legally recognise Tuvalu’s digital statehood – making the project not just a tragic climate adaptation strategy, but a powerful provocation for global action.
Tuvalu will become the world’s first digital nation – but without meaningful climate action, it won’t be the last.
At COP27, we launched a radical plan for survival: Tuvalu will become the world’s first digital nation.
Minister Simon Kofe appeared to address the audience from Teafualiku Islet, Tuvalu’s smallest island and the first part of the country that will be taken by the sea. Halfway through the speech, though, the island around him began to freeze and stutter; it was actually the first part of the digital nation.
Teafualiku Islet was painstakingly recreated using drone footage and topographical data. Tree-by-tree and stone-by-stone, the island was rebuilt as accurately as possible – but, of course, it could never come close to capturing the beauty the real thing. Carefully placed glitches revealed the inevitable shortcomings of a digital recreation; the dark, digital void around the island represented the last refuge of a nation with nowhere left to turn.
This image – a lone island, surrounded by a sea of darkness – became a powerful symbol of Tuvalu’s plight. The beginning of a decades-long digital migration.
Immediately after its debut at COP27, the campaign spread rapidly, reaching 2.1 billion people and 173 major global publications. That reach turned into action when, days after the announcement, a historic loss and damage fund for nations like Tuvalu was established at COP27. And already, nine different nations have agreed to legally recognise Tuvalu’s digital statehood – making the project not just a tragic climate adaptation strategy, but a powerful provocation for global action.
Tuvalu will become the world’s first digital nation – but without meaningful climate action, it won’t be the last.
2023 Awards
Total Points: 3
Merit
Credits
Agency
The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song / Sydney
PR / Marketing Agency
Thrive PR + Communications / Sydney
Production Company
Collider / Sydney
Music / Sound Production Company
MassiveMusic / Sydney
Chief Creative Officer
Tara Ford
Composer
Haydn Walker
Creative Director
Cameron Bell
Sam Dickson
Director
Glenn Stewart
Executive Creative Director
Barbara Humphries
Executive Producer
Katrina Aquilia
Sound Designer
Simon Kane
Head of Production
Penny Brown
Senior Account Director
Nathan Mcgregor
Senior Art Director
Alex Polglase
Senior Copywriter
Jake Ausburn
3D Animation
Glenn Stewart
Account Coordinator
Sarah Nguyen
Sophie Thomason
Additional Vfx
Joseph Harper
CEO
Leliani Abels
Colourist
Matt Fezz
Digital Design Lead
Eva Godeny
Digital Producer
Tamera Wohl
EP/Producer
Karen Bryson
General Manager
Kezia Quinn
Group CEO & Co-Founder
Mark Green
Group Chief Creative Officer & Co-Founder
Scott Nowell
GTM & Strategy Director, Sustainability Studio
Lucy Sundberg
Head of Innovation
Beth O'Brien
Head of Planning
Hugh Munro
Managing director
Rachael Ford-Davies
React Developer
Jasmine The
Steve Deng
Senior Account Executive
Maddy Beck
Senior Account Manager
Anna Laskaris
Tess Mcdonald
Sound House Creative Director
Ryan Dickinson
Tech Lead
Surya Winata
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