Nauru's ambassador to the United Nations has told a panel of climate change experts that cuts in greenhouse gas emissions must start immediately to save low-lying islands.
The meeting, on the eve of the Pacific Islands Forum summit in Majuro in the Marshall Islands, heard the European Union's climate change commissioner say the world is already late in dealing with the growing threat of climate change.
Nauru's Marlene Moses says it is clear greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced now.
She says the goal of sustainable development should be to provide everyone with the opportunity to live their lives with dignity.
Tuvalu's prime minister Enele Sopaga told the panel that concrete action on the ground is needed to save Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands and Kiribati.
He says there is no point in talking about sustainable development and post-2015 millennium development goals if climate change is not dealth with.
The EU climate action commissioner, Connie Hedegaard, offered the full support of the European Union to work with the Pacific to meet emissions reduction targets.
