Guterres said during a visit to Samoa that it was essential to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels if Pacific islands were to have a future.

The UN Secretary-General said that rising sea levels pose a huge threat to Samoa, the Pacific region and other small island states, and these challenges require decisive international action.

Nearly 200 countries have agreed to reach the 1.5 target by 2030, as agreed in the 2015 Paris Agreement, but according to the United Nations, the world is not on track to do so.

Although the Pacific region accounts for only 0.02 percent of global carbon emissions, it is the region that will feel the consequences of climate change first, according to the UN Secretary-General.

“You are on the front line of the climate crisis and are having to deal with extreme weather events from major tropical cyclones to ever-newer ocean temperatures,” Guterres said.

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He added that sea levels are rising here faster than the global average, posing an existential threat to millions of Pacific islanders.

– People are suffering. Economies are being crushed. Entire regions face annihilation.

Guterres is urging wealthier nations to keep their promises and help pay for the consequences of climate change in developing countries.

The world is also being asked to do more to address the consequences of climate change, overfishing and plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean, the world's largest ocean area.