CAIRNS, Australia, August 6, 2009 (AFP) - Pacific island nations called Thursday for urgent action on climate change, warning some of them faced "obliteration" unless world leaders moved quickly and decisively.

Ahead of crucial talks in Copenhagen in December to decide greenhouse gas emissions up to 2020 and beyond, the leaders of the 16-nation Pacific Island Forum urged leading governments to secure an effective global agreement.

At the end of a two-day summit, Australia, New Zealand and their partners also agreed to start negotiations for a region-wide free-trade deal and reaffirmed the suspension of Fiji's military regime from the grouping.

In a statement leaders said the island countries -- which include some of the smallest and poorest nations in the world -- caused little climate change but faced dire consequences from rising sea levels and changing weather patterns.

"The security of our communities and the health of populations is placed in greater jeopardy. And some habitats and island states face obliteration," they said in a statement.

Australian Prime Minister and forum chairman Kevin Rudd said the grouping had issued a call to action to the world.

"For so many of my colleagues here, this is not just a matter of importance, it is not just a matter of urgency, it is a matter of national survival," Rudd said.

The forum includes some of the countries most vulnerable to climate change, including the atoll archipelagos of Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Marshall Islands, which rise no more than a few metres above sea level.

Kiribati's foreign affairs secretary Tessie Lambourne said Wednesday climate change had caused more intense storm surges and destroyed many homes, crops and infrastructure.

"We call upon world leaders to urgently increase their level of ambition and to give their negotiators fresh mandates to secure a truly effective global agreement," the forum leaders said.

They urged an outcome at Copenhagen which would limit the increase in global average temperatures to two degrees Celsius or less.

Nations were urged to reduce global emissions by at least 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050 and to ensure global emissions peak no later than 2020.

The forum leaders also agreed to soon start negotiations on a controversial free-trade and development deal, known as PACER Plus.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said he welcomed the move, saying it would strengthen the island economies.

"Trade remains a key driver for economic development in the Pacific and we want to see the Pacific producing and trading more successfully with New Zealand, Australia and other trading partners," he said.

Opponents of the deal say the island countries' local industries would be destroyed by cheaper imports and their governments would lose huge revenues if tariffs and duties were lifted on Australian and New Zealand goods.

There has also been controversy because Fiji, one of the largest island economies, will not be able to take part in talks following its suspension from the forum in May.

The suspension followed the breaking of a promise by military leader Voreqe Bainimarama to hold elections early this year to restore democracy after the 2006 coup.

Fiji would not take part in the trade negotiations but would be kept informed of their progress, Rudd told reporters.

The forum reaffirmed Fiji's suspension, with Rudd saying leaders were "deeply troubled by the continued deterioration of the situation in Fiji".

"Media freedom has been trampled on, church leaders are being arrested. The people of Fiji deserve better. They deserve a prompt and early return to democracy."

The leaders also said despite high levels of aid, the region was lagging in achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals to reduce poverty.

They called for donors to join with the forum in better coordinating aid to the Pacific to achieve better progress towards the development goals.