Alternative for Tuvalu’s Statehood: Sunk to the Bottom or Move to the Metaverse?

Global warming caused by climate change has disparate effects on different parts of the international community. Based on the case-study of Tuvalu, an Oceanian microstate, faced the possibility of complete flooding; therefore, it implemented plans for both the physical migration of the population to nearby countries and the digital transfer of statehood to the metaverse. The hypothesis of the study states that the experience of constructing the first digital state in history provides a model of state’s transformation for countries experiencing similar issues as well as for providing a platform for the implementation of future humanitarian projects with the cooperation of the international community. These projects concern the digitalization of public and political life, the formation of digital counterparts for states, and the transition to newly emerging metaverses. The key conclusions are that the digitalization means doubling of phenomena in the social sciences: along with physical space, a transfer to the digital one is assumed, however the case of Tuvalu can indicate in the future that the state, society, and culture will exist purely digitally.