Climate Change, Legal Governance and the Pacific Islands: An Overview

The Pacific island region includes 22 countries and dependent territories1comprised of approximately 200 high islands and 2,500 low islands and atolls.2 Although the total land area is small at about 90,000 km2, these islands cover a large expanse of ocean with the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) totalling over 27 million km2.3 The total population of the region is less than 10 million, with Papua New Guinea alone contributing over 6 million.4