Australia will offer permanent residency to Tuvalu’s population of 11,200 under a world-first resettlement agreement for “climate refugees” displaced by global warming as part of a far-reaching treaty with the tiny Pacific nation.

Under the deal, Australia will offer Tuvalu a security guarantee giving Canberra the right to veto any attempts by other countries to strike a security agreement with the island state, nullifying the risk of another Solomon Islands-style pact with Beijing that sent shockwaves throughout the Pacific.