Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Tony de Brum believes Australians are yet to learn not to "mess with" or joke about the Pacific Islands after a political blunder over one of his islands.
He's hoping to meet with Australian counterpart Julie Bishop in Paris next week to "sort out" her accusation that claims an island had sunk were fabricated.
Ms Bishop was left red-faced after taking a dig at her domestic counterpart Tanya Plibersek in federal parliament, accusing her of fabricating a story about the island laying underwater.
The foreign minister supplemented her claim with a picture of an island well above water, featuring houses, lawns and picnic tables.
However, due to a spelling error in an ABC transcript of an interview with Ms Plibersek, the picture was of another island, Eneko.
Anebok, has in fact, sunk.
Mr de Brum, who is in Paris for major climate talks, hopes to speak with Ms Bishop about the issue when she arrives.
"Australians still haven't learned they should not mess with the islands and make jokes about the islands and their plight with climate change," he said in Paris on Saturday.
"When Minister Bishop arrives tomorrow, we'll have a chance to sort it out."
Ms Bishop flies into Paris on Sunday to take over Australian negotiations on what's hoped will become an agreement between 195 countries to curb emissions and limit global warming.
The Pacific Islands are calling for a strong, binding deal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees and ensure their people can remain on their home land.
Mr de Brum went on to excuse the saga as a product of Australia's long history of speaking English.
"They probably don't know how to pronounce those names properly," he said.
The blunder comes after Immigration Minister Peter Dutton was accidentally caught on camera seemingly poking fun at the dangerous situation imposed on Pacific Islanders by global warming.
"Time doesn't mean anything when you're about to have water lapping at your door," he replied, to a comment on the speed of events during this year's Pacific Islands Forum in Port Moresby.
