A local conservationist has urged the Samoa Government to consider legislation that would address challenges associated with the planet's current climate crisis.

Tupaemanaia Dr. Steve Brown told the Samoa Samoa Observer on Saturday that legislation that could go before the country's Parliament would complement the United Nations General Assembly's recent approval for the International Criminal Court of Justice (ICJ) to give an opinion on nations' obligations to act on climate change.

"Take this week’s UN General Assembly vote to get the ICJ at The Hague to give an opinion on what obligations nations have to act on climate change. Climate justice for all Samoans at last," he said.

"I've fought hard through Samoa Tourism Authority to get sensible long-term sustainable science-based and just ecotourism for our tourism sector in Samoa.

"But it has never been taken seriously by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Samoa Tourism Authority. Ideally, all Samoans would like to save their national bird, the manumea or tooth-billed pigeon from imminent extinction."

According to Tupaemanaia, global warming is threatening endemic species which could mean the habitats of Samoa's manumea birds or even Australia's koala being lost, consequently threatening their survival.

"Yet only captive breeding of the manumea birds in New Zealand can now save this species from guaranteed extinction in the very near future, as Samoan rainforests are cleared unsustainably for commercial cropping and grazing.

"Even Australia will see the last koala, the last wombat, the last marsupial icons if we continue with global warming the way we are."

Warning that the consequences of not taking action are greater, Tupaemanaia said Australia has lost over 30 species of native animals in the past 300 years to extinction.

"Australia's long-term custodians our Australian Aborigines never had their voices heard. Their concerns then and now ignored, our Indigenous Pacific Islanders Torres Strait Islanders, and Aborigines need a collective voice.

"Together we are 3,000 separate cultures, sadly we have the highest loss of languages for any region in the world, and the highest loss of native plant and native animal species in the world."