Low-lying islands and other countries that are probable victims want compensation and technology transfers.

ECONOMIST: Hotting up in The Hague

This rugged, remote land was shaped by volcanoes and many of its low-lying islands are ringed by flawless beaches and protected by coral reefs.

BBC: Getting in the Tahitian spirit

The river flows into the broad, flat Miramichi Bay, which is sheltered from the wider Gulf of Saint Lawrence by a string of low-lying islands.

BBC: The Titanic��s final resting place

European countries are among the few developed supporters of renewing Kyoto, along with a chorus of developing nations and low-lying Pacific islands, which are on the front lines of climate change due to rising sea levels.

FORBES: It's Crunch Time For Kyoto

But even more pertinent is the huge variation in their national interests, between those such as low-lying small islands that may literally cease to exist as nations as the sea level rises, and the oil-producing states of the Persian Gulf and Opec for whom the priority is to keep the oil and gas flowing.

BBC: Climate: Fractures in the lobby?

Tuvalu is a group of nine islands lying about half-way between Hawaii and Australia.

BBC: Pacific islanders flee rising seas

The islands, lying between the Antarctic and Subtropical Convergences and the seas, have a high level of productivity, biodiversity, wildlife population densities and endemism among birds, plants and invertebrates.

UNESCO: Culture

Low-lying coastal areas, including small nearshore islands, are among the most intensively used areas in all countries.

UNESCO: Water Portal | Water Events Worldwide

Densely populated, low-lying areas, such as large river deltas and small islands, are at the greatest risk from flooding.

NPR: In a Strategic Reversal, Dutch Embrace Floods