Tuvalu has announced its intention to by 2020 meet 100 percent of its energy needs with renewable power. Threatened by rising sea levels that are associated with climate change, the tiny island country is working with an international consortium of energy companies to realize their vision. Its seems the sun will play a leading role. Already, a sizable solar panel array — capable of supplying 5 percent of national electricity demand — has been installed on the islands’ main football stadium. As CNN reports,

Located between Hawaii and Australia, the tiny Pacific nation is one of the world’s climate change hotspots and many believe it is already seeing the negative affects of rising sea levels.

The highest elevation on the island is just 4.5 meters (14.8 feet), and king tides have become increasingly damaging over the past 10 years, threatening the homes and livelihoods of its 12,000 inhabitants.

I’m no Tuvalu expert, but I’d wager that Tuvaluvians Tuvalans residents know full well that their efforts to promote clean power — and reduce greenhouse gas emissions — won’t make a lick of difference in terms of slowing climate change. (I mean, together these celebrities probably emit more CO2 that all of Tuvalu’s citizens combined.) Without meaningful emissions reductions from large emitters — like the U.S., Europe and China — such small-scale efforts yield literally no benefit. So I suspect that in this instance the 2020 goal is both (1) a symbolic act, one designed to raise awareness ahead of the international climate change talks scheduled for December in Copenhagen, and (2) a pragmatic measure aimed at reducing reliance on imported fuel, which is prone to price volatility and has the potential to wreak havoc on the government’s budget. (See this post on Hawaii.)

Not that this kind of sensible reasoning will stop big media outlets from hyping the climate change angle. CNN’s headline? “Drowning Island Pins Hopes on Clean Energy.”