Representatives of small island nations at UN climate talks in Germany have accused oil producing countries of trying to "erase the science" on global warming.
Photo: RNZ / Ana Tovey
A report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), published in October, said it would be possible to stop global temperatures rising by more than 1.5 degrees centigrade this century - but only if there were huge cuts in carbon emissions.
Tuvalu's climate change negotiator, Ian Fry, told the talks that the report was being ignored.
"The IPCC report is a milestone report and we should welcome it, accept it and not negotiate it," he said.
"This report, for countries like my own, indicates the threats that we face. We face existential threats from climate change."
The annual UN negotiations in the German city of Bonn come in the midst of a Europe-wide heatwave.