Fiji has called on Australia to think of the Pacific region's "common heritage" and ratify the Kyoto Protocol on global warming.

The appeal was made by Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase in an address to the Asia Pacific Parliamentarians Conference on Environment and Development, Pacnews quoted The Fiji Times newspaper as reporting Tuesday.

Qarase said Australia had the highest per-capita level of greenhouse gas emissions in the developed world.

He said the region cannot afford to remain silent when a number of Pacific Island states are under very real threat from rising sea levels.

The four-day conference is being held in the Fiji town of Korolevu.

Source: Xinhua