UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Haiti’s president says increasingly violent hurricanes are exacerbating problems in extremely poor countries like his and is urging world leaders to do more to tackle climate change.

President Jovenel Moise told the UN General Assembly this morning that “small island nations … emit little greenhouse gases but suffer the largest part of the damage caused by more frequent, more violent hurricanes.”

For example, he said Hurricane Matthew in 2016 caused damage in Haiti equivalent to 32 per cent of gross domestic product. He said that aggravates deep poverty and social tensions even as he tries to pull Haiti out of its chronic troubles.

He urged countries and companies to follow through on promises made in Paris last year to help vulnerable countries to adapt to climate change.

Many world leaders at the UN General Assembly also called for more action by rich countries to help poor ones cope with flooding, drought and other extreme weather.