A UN special representative says minimising risk and the impact of disasters needs to be high on the political agenda.
Margareta Wahlström, who represents the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction, is visiting Samoa this week.
She says the Pacific is particularly vulnerable to disasters, and the economic impact will continue to increase as climate patterns change.
"I hope it will come up very high on the political agenda in the Pacific, as a matter of economic and social sustainability to always do an analysis that is based on how do we minimise risk, and the impact of hazards and other negative events."
Margareta Wahlström says people want to keep living in the Pacific Islands, and no one wants to see them become uninhabitable.
