Member of Parliament and Member Assisting Minister for Premier’s portfolio Florence Maureen Melekitama represented Niue in the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting with the UN Secretary General António Guterres in Suva, Fiji.
The UN Secretary General was accompanied by New Zealand’s Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters to Fiji following his official visit to Auckland and Christchurch.
In the meeting, Pacific Island leaders asked the UN Secretary-General to tell the world their region was running out of time.
Leaders from countries in the Pacific Islands Forum said climate change was the single greatest threat to their region.
In a statement, the leaders welcomed Guterres to witness the everyday reality of climate change and to drive momentum in the lead up to his Climate Action Summit in September in New York.
They said all countries attending the summit must agree to reduce global emissions, and to mitigation and adaptation support for countries that needed it.
The High Level Political Dialogue was chaired by His Excellency, the President of Nauru Baron Waqa.