The Marshall Islands president Hilda Heine says her government won't consider relocating its citizens in response to climate change.
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd sparked outrage last month when he suggested Australia offer citizenship to small Pacific nations in exchange for control of their seas.
Ms Heine said the Marshall Islands government has also been asked by citizens to buy land offshore so they could relocate.
But she says a national plan on climate change being drafted will only look at options for sustaining the atoll nation.
"We want to make sure that we're here because our culture is very well connected to the land system, the land tenure system, so if we're relocated and live in another location, that culture is going to be going away, it's not going to be there for us," she said.