VANUATU has declared a climate emergency, with Prime Minister Bob Loughman calling for a $1.2 billion (£0.95bn) package to combat its impact on the South Pacific island nation. 

He told parliament that rising sea levels and severe weather were already disproportionately affecting the Pacific region, with his country  having suffered two devastating tropical cyclones and a harsh drought in the last decade. 

“The Earth is already too hot and unsafe,” Mr Loughman said. “We are in danger now, not just in the future.”