--- title: Obama Climate Change Paris: President Meets Island States description: Obama underscored the impact of climate change on the world's most vulnerable countries in a meeting Tuesday. canonical: https://time.com/4130631/obama-climate-change-island-states/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-12-01T15:26:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T12:59:29.378Z article:section: World og:title: Obama Says He's an 'Island Boy' in Climate Meeting With Small Island Leaders og:description: 'These nations are not the most populous nations, they don't have big armies,' the President said og:url: https://time.com/4130631/obama-climate-change-island-states/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd992e0444d92231c/69887335cd1bba5cfc6fe501/obama-climate-small-island-states.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Obama small island states climate change og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Says He's an 'Island Boy' in Climate Meeting With Small Island Leaders twitter:description: 'These nations are not the most populous nations, they don't have big armies,' the President said twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd992e0444d92231c/69887335cd1bba5cfc6fe501/obama-climate-small-island-states.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Says He's an 'Island Boy' in Climate Meeting With Small Island Leaders  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 1, 2015 3:26 PM CUT  US President Barack Obama poses with, from left to right, Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, Kiribati President Anote Tong, Marshall Islands President Christopher Loeak, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neil and St. Lucia Prime Minister Kenny Anthony during a family photo for the small island nations in Paris on Dec. 1. US President Barack Obama poses with, from left to right, Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, Kiribati President Anote Tong, Marshall Islands President Christopher Loeak, Papua New Guinea Prime Minister Peter O'Neil and St. Lucia Prime Minister Kenny Anthony during a family photo for the small island nations in Paris on Dec. 1.Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Dec 1, 2015 3:26 PM CUT President Barack Obama underscored the impact of climate change on the world’s most vulnerable countries in a meeting with the heads of state of small island countries Tuesday. The 40-odd countries in the [Alliance of Small Island States](http://time.com/4058851/kiribati-cliamte-change/ "undefined") (AOSIS) negotiating group at the [COP 21 climate conference](http://time.com/4123568/paris-climate-conference-preview/ "undefined") face rising sea levels that threaten to submerge their livable land. The meeting with Obama, attended by the leaders of the Barbados, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and among others, was intended to elevate the role of the countries in the Paris negotiations. AOSIS countries have been pushing for more ambitious action to stem greenhouse gas emissions at the Paris conference. Current projections suggest that some countries may disappear entirely within decades without action. “These nations are not the most populous nations, they don’t have big armies,” Obama said. “But they have a right to dignity and sense of place.” Obama also said he had a special connection to the island countries given his time in Hawaii and Indonesia as a child: “I’m an island boy,” he said. **Read More**: [Meet the President Trying to Save His Island Nation From Climate Change](http://time.com/4058851/kiribati-cliamte-change/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4130631/obama-climate-change-island-states/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4130631/obama-climate-change-island-states/"},"headline":"Obama Says He's an 'Island Boy' in Climate Meeting With Small Island Leaders","datePublished":"2015-12-01T15:26:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:59:29.378Z","description":"'These nations are not the most populous nations, they don't have big armies'","url":"https://time.com/4130631/obama-climate-change-island-states/","keywords":["climate change"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd992e0444d92231c/69887335cd1bba5cfc6fe501/obama-climate-small-island-states.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd992e0444d92231c/69887335cd1bba5cfc6fe501/obama-climate-small-island-states.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Obama small island states climate change","caption":"Obama small island states climate change","creditText":"Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/climate-change/","name":"climate change"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4130631/obama-climate-change-island-states/","name":"Obama Says He's an 'Island Boy' in Climate Meeting With Small Island Leaders"}}]}] ```