Climate-induced migration is a central plank for Pacific civil society groups meeting in a global conference this week in Fiji.
CIVICUS has brought together about 800 delegates from about 100 countries for meetings just outside Suva.
High tides in Marshall Islands in March 2016 hit a seawall. Photo: RNZI/Giff Johnson
The executive director of PIANGO, the Pacific umbrella group for local NGOs, Emele Duituturaga said it was an opportunity for the Pacific civil society groups to amplify their concerns.
She said discussion on a migration process for those affected by climate change was yet to be grasped on the international stage but she said the reality in the Pacific was people were already being forced to move.
"So this is a specific outcome of these discussions. In addition to that there's a whole issue of self determination, decolonisation - these are also issues that have come to the fore here - not only has climate change compounded the problem but there is now a new form of colonialism emerging in the Pacific," said Emele Duituturanga.