Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa has emphasised the importance of climate finance to address the impacts of climate change.

Fiame made the comments during her keynote address at the EU-Indo-Pacific High Level Virtual Conference on Climate Change.

She said funding for the root causes of climate change is exponentially greater than for the response to climate change.

"We have issues with the overall distribution of financial support between mitigation and adaptation," Fiame said during the virtual conference.

"We must ensure a balanced allocation. Climate finance made available to S.I.D.S. are still insufficient, and half of the funds made available are sent to be in form of loan."

According to Fiame, Small Island Developing States (S.I.D.S) should received scaled up, adequate, predictable and long term support from the international community to adapt and address climate change.

Fiame added that there is an urgent need to increase the share dedicated to adaptation to 50 per cent of climate finance and provide readible support in building resilience.

"The decisions and commitments we make roday and the lead up to the upcoming COP26 in Glasgow makes more the difference for us tomorrow," she said.

"I remain particularly hopeful for the G20 meeting coming up in Rome this month to provide ambitious solutions to help recover from the parallel crisis.of the pandemic and climate change."

Emphasising that Samoa will do its part, Fiame said she is also counting on the leadership of others to demonstrate unity for ambitious climate action.

"Our opportunity is now. After all a climate conscious COVID-19 recovery is the key to prosperous economies and a resilient human race," she said.