Enele Sopoaga was speaking at a Small Island Developing States event in New York where he and other leaders have gathered for the United Nations General Assembly.
Describing climate change as a security issue, he said there was a need to ensure that implementation of the Paris Agreement was verifiable.
The Agreement, which aims to limit global temperature increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, was designed to protect communities most vulnerable to climate change impacts.