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The New Daily, 4th September 2018

The Pacific islands have declared climate change their “single greatest threat” and the latest data on carbon emissions show Australia to be a major contributor.

Climate change will dominate discussions at this week’s Pacific Islands Forum on the tiny island nation of Nauru, where Foreign Minister Marise Payne is representing Australia. Her prime minister, Scott Morrison, is staying away as he tries to build popularity back home.

Before the talks, the forum’s general secretary Meg Taylor declared climate change to be “the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of our people”.

“Some of the countries may not be happy about” that statement, she added, perhaps a veiled reference to Australia, where action on climate change helped bring down Malcolm Turnbull.

“But all of us who come from island states know that it is a threat.”

A senior Liberal minister, Christopher Pyne, admitted the issue was a fraught one for Australia.

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