Nauru's leader has told global leaders at the United Nations that the world will miss out on decarbonising the planet if deep sea mining does not start immediately.
President David Adeang was the first Pacific island leader to take the podium at the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York this week.
Adeang said "failing to seize the opportunity" holds great risk "to transform to renewable energy and decarbonise our planet".
He asked world leaders not to let fear and misinformation creep in - because the climate crisis will not wait.
"The greatest risk we face is not the potential environmental impacts of mineral recovery, but the risk of inaction.
"We cannot let fear and misinformation hold us back. We have the science, we have the technology, and we have the imperative, let us rise to the challenge and opportunity before us, and let the time for action be now."
He said dee sea mining was not only an economic opportunity, but also "an environmental imperative".
"We therefore call on the international community not to ignore the science and progress we have made.
"Instead, we urge you and the International Seabed Authority council to work with us to establish and adopt robust regulations necessary for the conservation and sustainable use of marine resources.
"We must accelerate our efforts without delay, because the climate crisis will not wait for us to get our acts together."
Nauru President David Adeang at the 79th Session of the UNGA in New York. 25 September 2024 Photo: Screengrab / UN Web TV
Earlier, the United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres also spoke on the climate crisis saying it affects smaller and more vulnerable countries the most.
"We are in a climate meltdown, extreme temperatures, rising fires, droughts and epic floods are not natural disasters, they are human disasters, increasingly fueled by fossil fuels."
"No country is spared but the poorest and most vulnerable are hardest hit."
Meanwhile US president Joe Biden said America is on track to halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
Biden told world leaders the US is taking their "most ambitious climate action in history" to "rejoin the Paris Agreement".
"Today, my country is finally on track to cut emissions in half by 2030 on track to honor my pledge to quadruple climate financing to developing nations with $11 billion thus far this year."
More Pacific leaders will add their voices to the UNGA general debate over the coming days.
The theme this year is 'Leaving no one behind: acting together for the advancement of peace, sustainable development and human dignity for present and future generations.'