Pacific islands can't tackle climate change alone
Climate change will hit the Pacific harder than anywhere else on Earth and the region's tiny island nations need major international aid to deal with the challenge, the World Bank said Thursday.
A World Bank report, "Pacific Possible", draws on research from numerous sources to back the long-held view of regional leaders that they are on the front line of global warming.
"(It) could have more dire impacts on the Pacific islands than any other country in the world," warned the report, released Thursday at the Pacific Islands Forum in Samoa.
The study said that even under a best-case scenario—with oceans rising 40 centimetres (16 inches) by 2100—island nations would face huge costs building seawalls to protect their coastlines.
European Commission DG ECHO