AUSTRALIA is being pressed to come to the rescue of drowning Pacific islands which face a homeless crisis due to rising sea levels caused by global warming. With predictions sea levels could rise by up to 32 centimetres by 2050, a number of Pacific islands could be rendered uninhabitable within a decade.

The Federal Government, which has twice refused requests from Tuvalu to resettle its population, could risk isolation in the region if it does not take a more proactive stance on Pacific climate change.

New Zealand and Canada have already responded to the environmental crisis afflicting many Pacific Islands countries. New Zealand has agreed to accept migrants from Tuvalu, which experts believe will be completely submerged by mid-century, and Canada is funding the relocation of residents of parts of Vanuatu affected by global warming.

The alarm bells were rung as Australia experienced its hottest year on record. Temperatures were so far above normal last year that it was as if many towns had been moved more than 100 kilometres north, the Bureau of Meteorology said yesterday.

Labor will today release a policy urging the Government to develop a comprehensive Pacific climate change strategy.

"It's the most significant problem the Pacific faces at the moment and the Australian Government is missing in action," said the Opposition's Pacific Islands affairs spokesman, Bob Sercombe.

"These issues have not only very important humanitarian implications but security implications for Australia as well."

The loss of land, crops and freshwater supplies caused by rising sea levels threatens to diminish living conditions in Pacific Islands states, and poses a serious risk to regional stability and security, the Opposition says.

Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia are all being affected by climate change, with residents on the Carteret islands in PNG already relocated to Bougainville.

The renewed pressure on the Government comes as Sydney prepares to host the first US-led meeting of the Asia-Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate. Labor is pushing for a seven-part Pacific climate change strategy which would include Australia establishing an international coalition of Pacific Rim countries willing to accept climate change refugees.

This would involve Australia agreeing to accept a proportion of evacuees, and offering vocational training to islanders forced to flee their homes to help them meet the skilled migration programs of other countries.

It would also mean Australia helping its poorer Pacific neighbours preserve their cultural heritage. Under Labor's policy, Australia would help establish a Pacific climate change centre to monitor the effects of climate change and act as an early warning system for extreme weather.

It would also assist with evacuations of Pacific Islanders forced by flooding to move from low-lying areas to higher ground.

Labor says Australia should set up a Pacific climate change alliance to lobby internationally, along the lines of the Australian-led Cairns Group on trade issues.

"What's required is a comprehensive strategy, and there isn't one at all now," said Labor's environment spokesman, Anthony Albanese.

"It's quite clear whole countries could literally disappear under rising sea levels in the next decade; it's the pointy end of climate change, and it's happening in our region," Mr Albanese said.