Oxfam New Zealand says Pacific countries should be devastated if a legally binding agreement is not reached at the climate change conference in Copenhagen.
As the summit draws to a close, the aid agency's director Barry Coates says such a deal is now unlikely.
He says if Copenhagen fails to deliver, Pacific countries have a right to be deeply disappointed.
"According to the World Health Organisation there's 150,000 people a year already who die from climate change related causes. For the Pacific that means the risk of really intense cyclones is significantly raised. So if you're a Pacific country you look at the prospect of a year's delay until you have an agreement with real alarm."
Barry Coates says its still possible for the Copenhagen conference to set a clear process for an ambitious global deal to be achieved in a short period of time.
