Not least those from small island nations, like Kiribati and Tuvalu, which are likely to disappear beneath the rising seas long before the Saudis have drained their last well.
When Kiribati, another country of sun-baked atolls and lagoons just to the south, had links with Beijing, it allowed the Chinese to build a satellite-tracking station on the island of Tarawa.
Vanuatu, Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands lie at or near sea level, and are at risk of being engulfed by seas that are rising by 5 millimetres a year.
Kiribati seems to have had a quiet year.But the accomplishments that most deserve commendation, we think, are path-breaking reforms that do not merely improve a single nation but, if emulated, might benefit the world.
But since taking office last December, Australia's new Labor government has announced a seasonal labour scheme for the fruit-picking industry, to be open to PNG, Vanuatu, Kiribati and Tonga.
The fixed costs of trading with Kiribati are high but the market is small.
Comparatively speaking 2013 may have been "a quiet year" for Kiribati, but it might not have too many of them left.Sara Lincoln Bristol* Letter appears online only.
WHAT DO THE following countries have in common: Madagascar, Bahamas, Kiribati, Togo, Brunei, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Central African Republic, Haiti, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Eritrea and Zimbabwe?
But what if a state ceases to exist as a physical reality if it sinks, Atlantis-like, under the waves?For low-lying islands like the Maldives or Kiribati, that is a very real possibility.
Most attention tends to focus on inhabitants of low-lying islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans the Maldives, Tuvalu and Kiribati, say and coastal plains, notably in Bangladesh.
Sustained winds of 165 mph (265 km/h) hit the archipelago, as well as Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands.
