Ms Clark was joined this morning by Premier for Niue Toke Talagi, Tuvalu Prime Minister Engle Sosene Sopoaga, and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
"I'm certainly hoping out of this specific consultation to have very much the needs on our minds of the small communities of the Pacific," Ms Clark said.
Co-chaired by Australia, New Zealand and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), the Pacific is the seventh of eight regional consultations being held ahead of the first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May 2016.
With the effects of climate change already a pressing reality for many of New Zealand's Pacific neighbours, it was important to be realistic about what kind of response was needed, Ms Clarke said.
"It's a question of what scale of disaster are you trying to mitigate? Are you trying to mitigate against a scale of disaster you're getting at the present degree of global warming or is it going to be global warming that's 3C above industrial levels, 4C, 5C, 6C?
"This matters enormously for Tuvalu, for example, which is right on the waterline."
Extensive consultations were held across the region prior to the consultation meeting to identify the priority humanitarian issues to be discussed, with more than 1400 people consulted from 17 Pacific countries.
Attendees in Auckland include representatives of disaster-affected communities, civil society, governments, international aid agencies, the United Nations, Red Cross, academia and the private sector in the Pacific.
UN staffer Stephen O'Brien said the 2016 Summit follows a rise in humanitarian needs around the world as well as in the Pacific.
"It is critical that we find more efficient and effective ways of meeting people's needs, building their resilience, and reducing disaster risk," he said.
"More people are affected by disasters, more frequently, and for longer than in previous decades.
"At the same time, humanity is dealing with new challenges, such as climate change - an urgent concern for many low-lying and coastal communities in the Pacific."
Two major disasters, Tropical Cyclone Pam and Typhoon Maysak, which caused extensive damage and destruction in many small island nations, including Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia were examples of such challenges.
"Recent disasters have underscored the importance of using the lessons learned from community resilience and preparedness in the Pacific to shape a new way forward," Mr O'Brien said.
The meeting will conclude on July 2 with a set of recommendations to feed into the global process and carry forward in the region.
