The Carteret Islands are found 85 miles to the north east of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea. They consist of six tiny islands around an volcanic lagoon which is 25 kilometres across.

After 200 years of occupation 2700 people now live on these islands, which are only 1.2 metres above sea level at their highest elevation.

The underwater volcano that the islands sit on is slowly subsiding, but Ursula belives that unusually high tides, stronger waves and currents as well as more powerful storms are all making it unsustainable for her community to stay on the islands. Ursula has already led two attempts to relocate the resident of the Carterets to the mainland, where they will be safer, but these have not been successful and Ursula is currently in the process of co-ordinating a third attempt.

The Papua New Guinean government has officially endorsed the evacuation of the Carteret islands and these islands are believed to be amongst the first to have to be abandoned, at least in part, because of climate change.