42 Small Countries Could "Disappear" Without Action On Climate Change

The secretary general of the Commonwealth said that humanity had "no choice" but to act.

Some of the world's smallest countries could "disappear" without action at an upcoming UN summit to contain climate change, the secretary general of the Commonwealth warned in a Wednesday interview.

"The threat to the 42 small states in existential," Baroness Patricia Scotland told AFP. "People say that as if it does not mean what it says -- namely these small states will disappear."

The Dominica-born lawyer and former British government minister, who leads the Commonwealth association of former countries of the British empire, was speaking during a visit to Rome that included talks with Pope Francis.

She said some of the Commonwealth's smallest members, like the low-lying Pacific islands of Tuvalu and Nauru, were "looking for new places to go" because "the sea level rises are so dangerous now".