Pacific Islanders won't be abandoned to suffer in silence as seawater inundates their homes and crops, Papua New Guinea's prime minister has declared ahead of a showdown with Australia and New Zealand on climate change.
Peter O'Neill welcomed 14 Pacific Island Forum leaders and two stand-ins to Port Moresby with a gala opening ceremony and feast on Tuesday night, ahead of Wednesday's summit.
Tribal dancers and drummers wearing elaborate grass costumes, ochre face paint, bores' teeth, mud masks and Birds of Paradise feathered head-dresses, accompanied each leader in a grand procession.
It was a show of national pride ahead of PNG's 40th anniversary of independence from Australia.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott is due to arrive on Wednesday night and Fiji's prime minister has boycotted the event, sending his foreign minister instead.
Mr O'Neill said the forum was only as strong as its most vulnerable members and had a "collective obligation" to help smaller states like Kiribati, Tuvalu and Marshall Islands on the frontline of global warming.
He said communities were living in fear of each high tide and storm front, while changes in ocean temperature and acidity hit fish stocks, and the frequency and intensity of cyclones has increased.
"Our people should not have to change their way of life or abandon thousands of years of traditions because of the actions of larger countries and their carbon emissions," Mr O'Neill told the dinner.
He said millions of his own people were suffering from what could be PNG's worst drought in 20 years and a looming food crisis, because of an El Nino weather system which was exacerbated by climate change.
Human rights abuses in Indonesia's Papuan provinces will be another hot button issue.
The leaders may find more common ground on fisheries, a regional strategy to reverse high Melanesian cervical cancer prevalence and improving internet connectivity.
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