"Our future looks bleak in the face of climate change, climate variability and sea level rise," President Anote Tong told a UN conference on small islands in Mauritius.

"We regard these threats as very real," said Tong. "And as deliberate acts by some to secure benefits at the cost of others could only be compared to an act of terrorism - eco-terrorism if you wish."

Kiribati, along with Tuvalu, the Marshall Islands and a handful of other low-lying islands, are threatened by the rise in sea level caused by global warming that could see their entire land areas submerged.

Climate change is a key issue at the UN conference attended by some 110 countries, including leaders of the world's more than 40 island-states.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Thursday called for "decisive measures" to address climate change, a month ahead of the entry into force of the Kyoto protocol on climate change.

The pact will see 38 countries reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, seen as the main cause of man-made global warming. But some of the world's biggest polluters, the United States, China and India, have refused to endorse the protocol.

"We have said it before and we will continue to stay it for as long as we are able to draw breath -- the international community must take immediate and comprehensive action to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases," Tong said.

"We call on those countries which have reaped benefits from the destruction of the environment to assist those who now have to pay the price of these irreversible processes," he added.

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