OLIVIA MASON: Welcome to Tuvalu,
a South Pacific country with beautiful reefs,
white, sandy beaches and a rich and colourful culture.
This is where Australia's prime minister
and a bunch of other leaders spent a lot of last week,
but it wasn't for a holiday.
They were here for the Pacific Islands Forum.
The Pacific Islands are a group of thousands of islands and atolls
here in the Pacific Ocean,
including dozens of different countries,
like Fiji, the Solomon Islands,
Tonga, Samoa, Vanuatu,
PNG and, of course, Tuvalu.
As close neighbours, Australia and New Zealand
are also part of the forum,
which is held every year to talk about things like trade,
education and tourism,
and most importantly for a lot of people here,
climate change.
It's a massive issue here in Tuvalu.
The average height of the islands here
is less than two metres,
which means any rise in sea level is seriously bad news.
In fact, a lot of people are worried
the whole country will disappear in the next century.
And it's not just Tuvalu.
Experts say rising seas and extreme weather
will have a devastating effect all around the Pacific.
I want the whole world to know that climate change is real.
It is like a thief in the night.
It will not only steal, but kill and destroy.
Timoci lives in Fiji,
which has seen many bad cyclones and extreme weather events -
something scientists say will get more frequent
and more extreme as global temperatures rise.
It is important for me
to take action against climate change,
to inspire or to encourage other young generations.
I want them to know that their voice can also be heard
by the world leaders.
For years, Pacific Islanders have been pleading with bigger
and more developed countries, including Australia,
to take serious action,
and that was their main message here in Tuvalu.
I said, "You are concerned about your...saving your economy
"or your, um, situation in Australia.
"I am concerned about saving my people in Tuvalu."
They wanted the forum leaders to sign an agreement
that included cutting carbon emissions
and banning new coal power plants and coalmines,
but that wasn't something
the Australian prime minister was prepared to do.
Coal is an important industry here that employs a lot of people,
and while the prime minister acknowledged
the threat of climate change to the Pacific,
he said he had to look after the interests of Australians.
Eventually, a new agreement was written
so Australia would sign.
I'm pleased that we were able
to reach the agreements that we have,
and, um...and that provides a platform for going forward.
Mr Morrison also promised
$500 million of aid money would go towards
helping Pacific Islanders deal with climate change.
But while that was welcome,
Tuvalu's prime minister said he was disappointed.
No matter how much money you put on the table,
it doesn't give you the excuse to not to do the right thing,
that is cutting down your emissions,
including not opening your coalmines.
In fact, a lot of Pacific leaders criticised Australia
and said we should be doing more.
While the forum is over for another year,
many people here in the Pacific
are hoping that their message won't be forgotten.
I want everyone to know that, um...
..we need to work together,
um, we need to act and walk the talk.