4 Sep 2013

Tahiti call for Forum committee on climate refugees

6:22 pm on 4 September 2013

The French Polynesian government has proposed that the Pacific Islands Forum set up a permanent committee to look at the possible displacement of people because of sea-level rise.

Its president, Gaston Flosse, has told Forum leaders that his territory will play its role in accommodating potential climate change refugees.

Mr Flosse says this approach could lead to the creation of a fund during the UN Conference on Climate Change to be held in Paris in 2015.