The United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres has warned the world is "not on track" to meet its climate change commitments kicking off a historic trip throughout the Pacific intended to focus on the looming threat of climate change.

The trip marks the first time a sitting UN secretary-general will meet with Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders in the region.

Key points: Mr Guterres said the "paradox" is that political will fades as climate change gets worse

Mr Guterres said the "paradox" is that political will fades as climate change gets worse He is set to visit Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Fiji following after his trip to New Zealand

He is set to visit Tuvalu, Vanuatu and Fiji following after his trip to New Zealand Samoa says climate change is not just a Pacific issue and that "Sydney could go down"



"Climate change is running faster than what we are … the last four years have been the hottest registered," Mr Guterres said yesterday alongside New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.

"The paradox is that as things are getting worse on the ground, political will seems to be fading."

Under the Paris Agreement, many countries agreed to a long-term commitment to keep the rise of global temperatures well below two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels in a bid to substantially reduce the effects of climate change.

After New Zealand, Mr Guterres will travel to Tuvalu, Vanuatu, and Fiji to meet with leaders who have for years been warning that many of the Pacific's small island nations face being washed away by rising sea levels due to global warming.

Mr Guterres added to those sentiments yesterday warning that Pacific nations are on the frontlines of climate change.

"We cannot allow for runaway climate change," he said.

"We need to protect the lives of our people and we need to protect our planet."

However, he praised the efforts of Ms Ardern's Government who just last week, introduced an ambitious bill that aims to make New Zealand mostly carbon neutral by 2050 while giving some leeway to farmers.

'With America or Australia — Sydney could go down'

In Fiji, Mr Guterres will meet with PIF leaders and senior government officials from the region.

Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilepa Sailele, a leading critic against nations who he believes are ignoring the threats of climate change, told the ABC's Pacific Beat program that he had a message for Mr Guterres.

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"To impress on him the importance of the smallness of our islands, and the quicker moves that our vulnerable islands would like to see from the bigger countries responsible for all these problems that we are facing today," he said.

Mr Sailele, who has previously blasted countries for ignoring the warnings, added that rising sea levels is not just an issue for the Pacific, but for those very same "bigger countries" as well.

"With America for example, or Australia — Sydney could go down," he said.

His comments follow a controversial withdrawal from the Paris Agreement's commitments by United States President Donald Trump in 2017, a move that was praised by former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott who last year said that Canberra should do the same.

The secretary-general's Pacific trip comes ahead of an anticipated Climate Action Summit that he plans to convene in September in New York.

ABC/wires