The Labour party in Australia is warning the Howard government that pacific refugees forced from their homes by rising sea levels could put the security of the region at risk.
The climate spokesman, Bob Sercombe, says John Howard is trying to ignore the issue.
Mr Sercombe says Australia should help countries move their residents to higher ground as well as accept some refugees.
He says if Australia does not act, it could become a matter of national security.
"Where you have whole populations being threatened with displacement, where you have food supplies becoming unviable because of increasing salt levels, this ultimately, if it's not addressed properly, will lead to a deterioration in the security environment. This is important for Australia as well as for the Pacific. It's both a humanitarian requirement but it's also a requirement based on our own national interest."
The climate spokesman, Bob Sercombe.
Internal resettlement programmes have recently begun in Vanuatu and the Carteret Atolls in Papua New Guinea.
