Climate change to dominate Pacific Islands Forum leaders summit in Papua New Guinea

The small islands of the pacific that are most vulnerable to climate change made a rally cry on Monday saying they are the pioneers and trailblazers returning balance to the earth.

Leaders from the Cook Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau and Tuvalu are catching up in Port Moresby -- the capital of Papua New Guinea (PNG) -- ahead of the wider 16 nation Pacific Islands Forum leaders summit and retreat which include Australia and New Zealand later in the week.

Climate change is set to dominate the talks, leading up to the Paris climate change conference in December, with the smaller pacific nations taking a "do or die" approach to their bigger neighbors, Australia and New Zealand.

Local media reported Australia and New Zealand will get a " dressing down" behind the scenes over their emissions reduction targets.

"Let us make our message in Paris a message we can be proud to take back to our people, one that we protect our environment and our cultural heritage," Palau President Tommy Remengesau said in his opening address.

"Our countries may be perceived as small but we are in fact pioneers and trailblazers in restoring balance to our earth."

In welcoming the early arriving leaders on Sunday evening, local media reported PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said this week's summit is important because of the global economic uncertainty.

The global economy is under pressure and we are seeing an increase in climate induced disasters, so this is a time when countries of like-mind must work together, O'Neill said in a statement.

"We in the Pacific did not cause climate change, but we suffer because of it."

He said the region must build collective capacity to be ready for further natural disasters and rough weather.

The small island nations of the pacific are the most vulnerable to human induced climate change, with the collective leaders aiming to hold the world to restrict the global warming temperature rise to 1.5 degrees, fearing that a two degrees target will risk the existence of many islands.

The Pacific Islands Forum Leaders and Related Meetings run from Sept. 7-11, with discussions on fisheries, health, communications, technology and alleged human rights abuses in West Papua also on the agenda. Endi