KEY POINTS:
The Pacific Islands Forum and the European Union (EU) have endorsed a joint declaration on climate change.
Negotiations on the joint declaration, which outlines shared concerns about global warning and a desire to reach a post-Kyoto climate treaty, were completed this week in Strasbourg, France.
Niue is the current chair of the Pacific Island Forum and Premier Toke Talagi was present at this week's EU Climate Change Roundtable where negotiations were completed.
Mr Talagi said the declaration was an important building block towards a co-ordinated approach to tackling climate change.
He said the Pacific region was already witnessing the impact of increasing global temperature and rising sea levels.
Some states, such as Kiribati and Tuvalu, were faced with the prospect of disappearing completely under water in a few decades, he said.
EU commissioner for development Louis Michel said despite their distance Europe and the Pacific shared similar concerns about the effects of climate change.
- NZPA
