My father Peter Dreaver was the first New Zealander to be sent with Volunteer Service Abroad (VSA) to Kiribati - or the Gilbert and Ellice Islands as it was known back in 1966.

Barbara Dreaver, front at right, with her family as a child in Kiribati. Source: Barbara Dreaver

It wasn't just the country that he fell in love with - it's part of family lore that he walked into a crowded party, spied my Gilbertese mother across room and told the people he was with that he was "going to marry that woman".

And he did.

We had the sort of childhood most dream about and I happily traversed it with bare feet.

The ship brought sought after supplies every six to eight weeks, although we were more than happy with fish and rice.

It was isolated, with virtually no phones and certainly no television - who needed it when Thursday night was film night at the Otintaai Hotel.

Life was simple and mine revolved around family and friends, playing outdoors and swimming in the ocean.

Barbara Dreaver, right, weaving with friends while growing up in Kiribati. Source: Barbara Dreaver

It was idyllic and nobody dreamed that the sea which brought so much joy would end up destroying the land.

The problem is there isn't much land, and what there is lies only two to three metres above sea level.

The main island Tarawa is shaped like a horseshoe with a lagoon in the middle.

In some places it's so narrow you could stand on one beach, throw a stone and it would land on the other side of the island.

It's been projected that in 30 years more than half of south Tarawa will be vulnerable to flooding.

The big climate change conference COP23 which starts today isn't just yet another conference. It's coming to a stage where there's lives on the line.

My grandparents have passed away but I have uncles, aunties and cousins who live in Tarawa.

The days of our childhood are gone - it's a tough life now with a hugely overcrowded island taking on third world status. Children die of malnutrition.

It's why I'm grateful to Fiji and Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama for driving climate change and presiding over COP23.

It's fair to say my relationship with the Fiji Government has been strained over the years. But credit where credit's due.

Fiji has picked up the mantle where New Zealand and most definitely Australia has failed dismally for the region they like to represent - when it suits them. It's been a shameful disgrace.

Good for Fiji for taking the voice of the Pacific to the world stage.

Doomsday climate change figures are blithely tossed around but to me it's not statistics, its personal.