The head of the Cook Islands climate change office says Pacific countries need better access to adaptation funding.
Deligates at COP 24 - the 24th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Katowice, Poland on 4 December, 2018. Photo: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto
Cooks lobby for more action to tackle climate change
Wayne King is in Katowice, Poland for the UN climate summit COP24.
He's part of a Pacific contingent pushing for political consensus on a climate rule book to agree ways of saving the planet from the worst effects of global warming.
Mr King said they are also pushing for better access to finance for adaptation to rising temperatures and rising tides.
He said the people of the Cooks' outlying islands are experiencing crop failures as salt water intrudes.
Mr King said they need access to adaptation funds in the form of grants not loans.
"For us, in the Cook Islands, whatever we do here we need to translate that back home in how we address these particular issues. So climate finance is a critical component. The more inaction that's taking place, the higher the cost."