Donate to support Kiribati

Why your support matters in Kiribati

Kiribati’s 33 atolls add up to just 810 square kilometres of land. Most of those islands sit less than two metres above sea level, making it one of the world’s most at-risk countries in the face of climate change.

When a king tide arrives, saltwater floods across low-lying land, contaminating freshwater wells, drowning crops and eroding coastlines. These events are becoming more frequent and more severe, pushing families already living with limited economic resources deeper into poverty.

The evidence that this threat is already real came in the late 1990s, when two uninhabited Kiribati islands, Abanuea and Tebua Tarawa, disappeared permanently beneath the waves. They were the first. Without urgent climate action, they won’t be the last.

Kiribati communities emit just 0.47 tonnes of carbon dioxide per person per year. The global average is 4.47 tonnes, ten times higher. Kiribati contributes almost nothing to the emissions driving the climate crisis. Yet its people are paying some of the highest costs.

That’s poverty driven by inequality. And it’s exactly what Oxfam works to challenge.

Despite this, Kiribati communities are not waiting to be rescued. The current Kiribati government has made a deliberate shift, investing in sea walls, adaptation programs, and the advocacy capacity to access the climate finance that makes staying on their land viable. Community organisations are leading the charge, from local adaptation work to the global climate negotiations, where Kiribati’s voice must be heard.

How Oxfam is working in Kiribati

Oxfam works alongside local organisations to strengthen climate leadership, build the capacity to access climate finance, and amplify Kiribati’s voice in the decisions that shape its future.

Strengthening Kiribati’s voice in climate negotiations

Through PACCCIL Phase 2, Oxfam partners with the Kiribati Climate Action Network (KiriCAN), Kiribati’s first climate NGO and the secretariat coordinating the work of 17 climate organisations across the country.

KiriCAN represents Kiribati communities in regional forums and at COP climate summits, ensuring that the lived experience of people on the frontline of the climate crisis reaches the spaces where global decisions are made.

KiriCAN representatives participated in the Bonn Negotiations in June 2026, and at COP29 in November 2024, KiriCAN’s representatives called for urgent action on climate finance, because without it, the choice to stay becomes harder.

Building capacity to access climate finance

Kiribati needs climate finance to defend its land and build resilience. Climate finance could fund sea walls, adaptation infrastructure and community programs. But accessing it requires skills and relationships that small Pacific nations often lack (through lack of opportunity, not ability).

Through PACCCIL Phase 2, Oxfam supports KiriCAN to build that capacity, helping communities understand, navigate and influence the systems that hold the funding Kiribati urgently needs.

Connecting Kiribati to a united Pacific voice

Kiribati doesn’t stand alone. KiriCAN works alongside partners in Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tuvalu to present a united Pacific voice in climate negotiations.

This regional solidarity is one of the most powerful tools available to small island nations, ensuring the collective experience of Pacific communities shapes climate policy, not just the ambitions of the world’s biggest emitters.

Oxfam acknowledges the support of the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).

Key focus areas

Why choose Oxfam

We work alongside Kiribati leaders and organisations who understand the challenges and are already leading the solutions. When you support Oxfam with a donation to Kiribati, you’re backing:

Local partnerships

Every program is grounded in community knowledge and led by local organisations. KiriCAN leads, Oxfam supports.

Long-term resilience

From climate advocacy to capacity building, we focus on lasting impact (not just emergency relief).

Proven accountability

As a member of the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), Oxfam follows the highest standards of transparency and effectiveness.

A regional approach

Our work in Kiribati is part of a wider Pacific strategy, ensuring solutions are shared, connected and led by the region itself.

Justice over charity

We support communities to lead their own future. It’s not about charity. It’s about fairness, dignity and equal rights.

How your donation helps

Every donation to Oxfam supports community-led programs in Kiribati. Here’s what your support can help make possible:

• A stronger Kiribati voice in climate negotiations through support for KiriCAN’s advocacy at COP summits and regional forums
• Better access to climate finance through capacity building that helps Kiribati communities navigate and access the funding needed to build resilience and stay on their land
• A network of 17 organisations amplified through KiriCAN’s secretariat role, your support reaches climate advocates across the country
• Women’s participation in climate decisions. Supporting women and girls to shape the solutions that affect their lives and communities
• Regional Pacific solidarity through PACCCIL Phase 2, connecting Kiribati with partners in Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Tuvalu

Your donation is more than a brief moment of support. It’s a commitment to a more just and resilient future for Kiribati.

Donate to Kiribati now

Kiribati communities have made their choice: to stay, adapt and fight for their home. Help them do it.

By donating today, you’re backing community leaders who are standing up for climate justice in Kiribati, across the Pacific, and in the global forums where their future is being decided. Every contribution supports that work.

Donate now to support climate justice in Kiribati.

Learn more about Oxfam’s work in the Pacific

Want to understand the bigger picture? Discover how Oxfam works across the Pacific to support community-led climate justice and push for global systems that put fairness first. Or read our explainer on what climate change is; what’s driving the crisis, who it affects most, and how you can help.

You can explore our current appeals, or learn more about how Oxfam works across the region: Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.

Oxfam’s partners

Kiribati Climate Action Network (KiriCAN), Pacific Islands Climate Action Network (PICAN), Oxfam in the Pacific (OiP)