Climate change, Clinton to become hot topics

At Pacific Summit:

COOK ISLANDS: The challenges of climate change and protecting one of the world’s last pristine ocean environments are set to dominate this week’s Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in the Cook Islands.

But the expected presence of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will ensure geo-political concerns, particularly China’s growing influence in the South Pacific, are also high on the agenda at the regional summit.

The 15-nation PIF grouping is largely made up of small island states, along with resource-rich Papua New Guinea and regional powers Australia and New Zealand.

Many of the low-lying island nations are on the front line of climate change, rising just a few metres (feet) above sea-level and in danger of being swamped if global warming causes the world’s oceans to rise.

“We’re very exposed to climate change impacts, loss of fresh water, coastal erosion, acidification of water with impacts on coral reefs,” PIF secretary-general Tuiloma Neroni Slade told reporters Monday. AFP