23 Facts About Anote Tong

Anote Tong is an I-Kiribati environmental activist and former politician for the Pillars of Truth party with half Chinese heritage, who served as the fourth president of Kiribati, from 2003 to 2016.

Anote Tong won the election in July 2003 with a slim plurality of votes cast against his older brother, Harry Tong and the private lawyer Banuera Berina.

Anote Tong was re-elected on 17 October 2007 for a second term.

In 2012, Tong was reelected for a third term, although with a significantly smaller percentage than in the previous two elections.

Anote Tong is primarily known abroad for his efforts to raise "global awareness on the threat posed by climate change".

Anote Tong went to St Bede's College in New Zealand for his secondary school education, graduated from Canterbury University with a degree in Science, and then gained a Masters in Economics degree from the London School of Economics.

Anote Tong is married to an I-Kiribati woman, Nei Meme Tong, and has seven children, among them his elder Vincent Tong, elected MP for Maiana in 2020.

Anote Tong considers himself originally from this island of Maiana, located in central Gilbert Islands.

Anote Tong entered politics in 1976 as an assistant secretary of the Ministry of Education, then served in the Ministry of Communications and Works in the 80s.

Anote Tong was overwhelmingly re-elected to his seat in parliament in the August 2007 parliamentary election.

Anote Tong was re-elected to a third, and final, four-year term as president in the January 2012 election.

Anote Tong defeated two challengers, including his nearest rival, Tetaua Taitai, by more than 2,000 votes.

Anote Tong reappointed Teima Onorio to a third term as Vice President of Kiribati on 19 January 2012, as part of his cabinet appointments for his third term.

In September 2022, amid the Kiribati constitutional crisis, Anote Tong said that Kiribati was "moving towards authoritarianism", after the government withdrew from the Pacific Islands Forum and suspended all judges from its high and appellate courts, calling the moves "unprecedented".

Anote Tong stood front and center in the push to create the Phoenix Islands Protected Area.

Anote Tong has been at the forefront of raising global awareness about catastrophic risks caused by climate change.

Anote Tong directed Kiribati's purchase of approximately 20 square kilometers of land in Fiji in 2014 as a contingency refuge for his people.

Anote Tong has said the purchase of land in Fiji was partly an investment in property, partly for food security purposes since it is prime farming land, but a last resort it could be a home for the I-Kiribati people fleeing from the effects of climate change.

Anote Tong is responsible for a number of other initiatives to combat climate change and protect the environment, such as calling for a global moratorium on using coal in 2015, as well as overseeing the creation of a 480,250 square kilometer marine park, the largest protected marine area in the world.

Anote Tong has been awarded leadership and environmental prizes for his work both in environmental protection and his advocacy on climate change and its effects.

For example, Anote Tong was awarded the 2015 Sunhak Peace Prize, and in 2012 both the Leadership Award from the Hillary Institute of International Leadership and the Peter Benchley Ocean Award.

Anote Tong is the founder of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area, one of the world's largest marine conservation areas that has been recorded on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Anote Tong is board member of Conservation International, and was previously an ambassador for the Global Challenges Foundation.