"I am in Tonga to issue a global SOS -- Save Our Seas -- on rising sea levels. A worldwide catastrophe is putting this Pacific paradise in peril" he said.
Sparsely populated and with few heavy industries, the Pacific islands collectively pump out less than 0.02 percent of global emissions every year.
But this vast arc of volcanic islands and low-lying coral atolls also inhabits a tropical corridor that is rapidly threatened by encroaching oceans.
The World Meteorological Organisation has been monitoring tide gauges installed on the Pacific's famed beaches since the early 1990s.
A new report released by the top UN climate monitoring body showed seas had risen by around 15 centimetres in some parts of the Pacific in the last 30 years.
The global average was 9.4 centimetres, according to the report.
"It is increasingly evident that we are fast running out of time to turn the tide," said the forecasting agency's top official, Celeste Saulo.
Some sites, particularly in Kiribati and Cook Islands, measured a rise that matched or was just under the global average.
But other sites, such as the capital cities of Samoa and Fiji, were rising almost three times higher.
In low-lying Pacific nation Tuvalu, land is already so scarce that throngs of children use the tarmac at the international airport as their own makeshift playground.
Scientists have warned that, even under some moderate scenarios, Tuvalu could be almost entirely wiped off the map within the next 30 years.
"It's disaster after disaster, and we are losing the capacity to rebuild, to withstand another cyclone or another flood," Tuvalu Climate Minister Maina Talia told AFP Monday on the summit's sidelines.
"For low-lying island states, it's a matter of survival for us."
- Canary in the coal mine -
The plight of Pacific islands has been easily overlooked in the past, given their relative isolation and lack of economic might.
But the region is increasingly seen by scientists as a climate canary in the coal mine, hinting at the troubles potentially facing other parts of the planet.
"This new report confirms what Pacific leaders have been saying for years," Australian climate researcher Wes Morgan told AFP.
"Climate change is their top security threat. Pacific nations are in a fight for survival, and cutting climate pollution is key to their future."
Surrounded by millions of square miles of tropical ocean, the South Pacific is uniquely threatened by sea-level rise.
The vast majority of people live within five kilometres of the coast, according to the United Nations.
Rising seas are swallowing up scarce land and tainting vital food and water sources.
Warmer waters are also fuelling more intense natural disasters, while ocean acidification slowly kills the reefs that nourish key marine food chains.
Pacific nations are pushing for carbon polluting countries to cut emissions and fund climate resilience programmes.
The issue is expected to feature heavily in summit talks throughout the week.
"The need for loss and damage finance is here today, and costs will only rise without urgent climate action now," said Rosanne Martyr, a senior scientist with the Climate Analytics policy institute.
"In 2020, some Pacific Island nations including Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Micronesia lost more than one percent of their GDP to rising seas."
Key summit opens at 'pivotal' time for Pacific islands
Nuku'Alofa, Tonga (AFP) Aug 25, 2024 -
The top summit for Pacific island nations opened Monday in the Kingdom of Tonga, drawing global attention to the region's climate plight and its role in an unfolding great power rivalry.
Melodic Tongan choir singers and dancing school children in traditional dress welcomed foreign leaders to the seaside capital Nuku'alofa for this year's Pacific Islands Forum.
Beneath the bonhomie, however, rare fissures have been forming in the 18-member bloc with potentially far-reaching consequences.
Pacific nations are torn over China's security ambitions in the region, and are also split on whether they should plunge into deep-sea mining.
"We gather at a pivotal time in our region's history," said forum secretary Baron Waqa, a former president of Nauru.
"We are at the centre of global geopolitical interest. We are at the forefront of a battle against climate change."
China's influence was evident in Tonga, nicknamed the "friendly islands", long before Waqa cleared his throat to speak.
Red-and-white signs tacked up outside construction sites in Nuku'alofa tout "China Aid" and visions of a future "shared" with the Pacific's last monarchy.
One of these projects was the indoor stadium hosting the conference, a US$25 million gift from Beijing.
Chinese ambassador Liu Weimin handed Tonga's prime minister an oversized novelty cheque at a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the building.
"China-Tonga relations have grown from strength to strength," Liu said.
"Friends in need are friends indeed."
Tonga's debt-laden government is seen as particularly vulnerable to economic pressure from China.
It owes China's export bank around $130 million, almost a third of its GDP.
"We need to remain vigilant on issues of regional security," warned Waqa, who has taken a dim view of the escalating rivalry in the past.
The United States has despatched senior diplomat Kurt Campbell to lead its forum delegation.
Campbell has been one of the key figures behind a US-led push to keep China's Pacific ambitions in check.
- New Caledonia crisis -
The other pressing security challenge facing Pacific leaders is the unresolved crisis in French territory New Caledonia, which quickly reared its head on opening day.
"We must reach consensus on our vision for a region of peace and security," said Tongan Prime Minister Siaosi Sovaleni.
"We must honour the vision of our forefathers regarding self determination, including in New Caledonia."
Much of New Caledonia's ethnically Melanesian Kanak population fears that recent voting reforms put forward by Paris could crush their dreams of independence.
It is a cause that resonates widely in the Pacific bloc, which is stacked with former colonies now fiercely proud of their hard-won sovereignty.
- 'Save the Pacific' -
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres fronted the summit in a rare appearance designed to highlight the Pacific's myriad climate threats.
"The decisions world leaders take in the coming years will determine the fate, first of Pacific Islanders, and then everyone else," Guterres said.
"If we save the Pacific, we save the world."
Leaders are expected to mount a renewed push for a homegrown climate adaptation fund, an idea that has stalled as much-needed foreign contributions dry up.
They will also mull over coal-heavyweight Australia's bid to host the COP climate conference in 2026.
The fractious topic of deep-sea mining does not sit on any official agenda, but will likely be a topic of heated debate behind closed doors.
Forum host Tonga sits at the vanguard of nations eager to open-up the emerging industry, joined by fellow forum members Nauru and the Cook Islands.
But others such as Samoa, Palau and Fiji see it as an environmental catastrophe in the making, giving their full-throated backing to an international moratorium.
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