The Pacific Islands Forum has expressed utter disappointment at this month's global climate negotiations in Spain.
Forum chair and Tuvalu Prime Minister, Kausea Natano. Photo: Supplied / Government of Tuvalu
The talks in Madrid, known as COP25, ended with key questions about the implementation of the Paris agreement delayed to next year.
That was caused by a small bloc - which included Australia, the US, and Brazil - opposing a push for higher ambition, and blocking strict regulations around carbon markets.
Forum chair and Tuvalu Prime Minister, Kausea Natano, said the lack of ambition and urgency displayed at the talks was "very concerning" for small island states at the front line of the climate crisis.
Mr Natano said regional prosperity could exist only if the international community pursued efforts to limit temperature rise to 1.5°C, and to reducing green house gases.
"It is disheartening that our collective political commitment and resolve, as the Pacific Islands Forum, was not upheld by the parties to this declaration, where it mattered most - that is in the negotiating rooms in Madrid," he said in a statement.
He said 2020 would be "crunch-time", as no nation could afford to repeat the "depressing outcome" of COP 25.