Low-lying Vanuatu is considering suing fossil fuel companies and industrialised countries that use them for their role in creating catastrophic climate change, the foreign minister of the Pacific island nation said on Thursday.

The comments came as the UN World Meteorological Organisation warned that the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere had hit a new record in 2017, with no sign of slowing down.

Vanuatu, with an estimated population of 280,000 people spread across roughly 80 islands, is among more than a dozen Pacific island nations that already face rising sea levels and more regular storms that can wipe out much of their economies.

Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu said it was time that some of the billions of dollars of profits fossil fuel companies generate every year goes towards the damage they cause in countries like "desperate" Vanuatu.

"This is really about claiming for the damages," he told Reuters in an interview.

Speaking at the Climate Vulnerable Forum’s Virtual Summit earlier in the day, Mr Regenvanu announced the legal options Vanuatu was considering.

"My government is now exploring all avenues to utilize the judicial system in various jurisdictions - including under international law - to shift the costs of climate protection back on to fossil fuel companies, the financial institutions and the governments that actively and knowingly created this existential threat to my country,” he said.