Vanuatu exposes US climate change denial at COP24

Vanuatu has accused the United States and other developed countries of obstructing progress at the UN climate summit in Poland.

The talks in the city of Katowice have centred on a recent critical UN climate report which said urgent action was needed to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

The US, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait blocked full endorsement of the report, only agreeing to note it.

Vanuatu's Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu took the stage on Tuesday to single out the countries for not doing enough.

"It pains me deeply to have watched the people of the United States and other developed countries across the globe suffering the devastating of climate-induced tragedies, while their professional negotiators are here at COP24 putting red lines through any mention of loss and damage in the Paris guidelines and square brackets around any possibility for truthfully and accurately reporting of progress against humanity's most existential threat," Mr Regenvanu said.