The little island nation of Tuvalu, population 11,342, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, has a problem. It’s disappearing into the sea. Climate change is sinking it, or rather raising sea level to overwhelm it.

According to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, sea levels have risen 8-9 inches since 1880 due to global warming. A further rise of 8 to 16 inches could make Tuvalu uninhabitable. With the rate of rise near the archipelago at 0.2 inches per year and accelerating, the future is grim. Two of Tuvalu’s nine islands have already largely disappeared under the waves.

Australia to the rescue. The Aussies have signed a climate migration deal with the island nation that offers visas to 280 Tuvalu citizens each year. Over 3,000 Tuvaluans have already entered a ballot for the first batch of visas. The lucky winners will be able to live, work and study in Australia, enjoying health benefits and education on the same basis as Australian citizens. They will obtain permanent residency and be able to move freely between the two countries.

The deal also involves security. Australia commits to aiding Tuvalu in responding to natural disasters or military aggression. The quid pro quo is that Australia has a say in any other defence pacts Tuvalu may sign, essentially giving it veto power over Tuvalu’s national security decision-making. Strategically, Australia may be pre-empting China.

In any case, it appears to be a generous act in response to Tuvalu’s struggle with the changes effected by global warming. But then we might ask who is responsible for that warming in the first place. And the answer does not flatter the Australians.

The major cause of global warming is the emission of greenhouse gasses and, of the advanced countries, Australia has the highest per-capita emissions, with Canada not far behind. We emit far more per capita than any of our peers—the Brits, the Germans, the Japanese, et al. Australians and Canadians emit twice the emissions of the average Chinese, seven times those of the average Indian.

Furthermore, we have disproportionately enjoyed the high living that creating those emissions provided. We have experienced the benefits of the fossil fuel age much longer than third world peoples such as the Tuvaluans, and we continue to profit enormously from fossil fuel burning, Australians from their coal exports and we from our oil.

So we must discount Australian’s climate migration generosity by their disproportionate contribution to the climate crisis. Very nice of them to welcome the Tuvaluans into their home, but they could do them and the rest of humanity a much greater service by recognizing their profligacy and seriously curbing  their emissions. As could we.