'Sacrificial canary': Fiji warns Australia not to let Pacific sink

"I am glad the Australian government has recognised you cannot fix those leaks with Kyoto credits.

"Every nation must put forward more ambitious emissions reduction targets by 2030 as part of a net zero commitment by 2050, and not one day later."

Likening Pacific island nations to a canary in a coal mine he said he refused to allow "Fijians and our Pacific Island sisters and brothers be some sacrificial canary for coal-burning countries and high-emitting companies."

"We must not stand idly by and watch the world's most vulnerable countries suffer, only to warn other, wealthier nations that their own fate will soon follow."

Mr Morrison dismissed the suggestion he was frustrated over this weekend's global summit, and he emphasised his message to Pacific Island Forum leaders about Australian help in dealing with climate change.

"I'm particularly interested to be joining with our Pacific Island family tonight, to address not only how we're meeting our commitments, but also how we're supporting them when it comes to climate resilience and adaptation," Mr Morrison said ahead of his speech to the forum.

"Australia is making significant investments in our own country on that front. And we're also making very significant investments in our region as well."

But the government is privately furious and much of its anger is directed towards British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hosting the conference in partnership with the UN and France.

Mr Johnson invited Mr Morrison to speak at the December 12 summit several weeks ago but walked away from the offer this week amid a behind-the-scenes diplomatic tussle over whether Australia's climate change policies were insufficient to warrant a speaking slot.

The Prime Minister had planned to use his speech to announce Australia would drop its controversial plan to use Kyoto carryover credits to achieve its 2030 emissions reduction targets.

Selwin Hart, the special adviser to UN secretary-general António Guterres on climate action, said Australia had not met the threshold needed to speak.

"The three co-hosts - the UN, UK and France - provided all member states with very clear guidance from the outset that speaking slots would go to countries and other actors who show the most ambition right now," he said.

He repeated the UN's position that countries should sign up to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 ahead of a major climate summit in Glasgow next November.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was also excluded from the list of nearly 80 world leaders given permission to address Saturday's summit.

China, which is building dozens of new coal-fired power plants but has committed to net zero emissions by 2060, was given a spot.

"Rather than focusing on those countries that are not on that list as of now, we really should be celebrating those that have decided to come forward this early - many of them from the developing world who despite the challenges of the pandemic, [are] on the frontlines of the climate crisis including many countries in the Pacific - to make bold and ambitious commitments around net zero," Mr Hart said.

"Some have brought these commitments forward and I think we should celebrate those leaders who have come forward and decided to take this ambitious step before COP26.

"We have a long way to go before Glasgow and we hope that this coalition around net zero by mid-century will grow."

Mr Johnson offered Mr Morrison the chance to speak even though France, the UN and other supporting partners like Italy and Chile had a say on who made the final list.

The government is furious that Mr Johnson was unable to guarantee the promise. There had already been tensions between the UK and Australia over climate in the weeks since Downing Street publicly claimed Mr Johnson had urged Mr Morrison to take "bold action" during a phone call on October 28.

"He has thrown us under the bus," one government official said on Thursday.

Diplomatic sources not authorised to speak publicly said Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office was determined to not let Australia speak.

Japan, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru and Cambodia are the only countries in the Asia-Pacific region given a speaking slot.

Mr Hart said the UN wanted to see more commitments on climate financing and appeared to take a swipe at Australia for not doing more to help its Pacific neighbours.

"Ten years ago developed countries promised to mobilise $US100 billion per year in new climate finance to support mitigation and adaptation in the developing world," he said.

"That goal has not yet been met."

Mr Morrison last year pledged to redirect more than half a billion dollars in foreign aid towards renewable energy projects and disaster relief throughout the Pacific.