The Fijian double-hulled sailing canoe (drua) which featured in the Sainsbury Centre's recent exhibition “Fiji: Art & Life in the Pacific”, is taking centre stage at this year’s UN climate change meeting, COP23, for signatories of the Paris Agreement.

Fiji is chairing the meeting, which is taking place between 6-17 November at the World Conference Centre in Bonn, and is using the canoe as the carbon-free icon.

Frank Bainimarama, the Fijian Prime Minister, told delegates: "We are all in the same canoe with respect to climate change."

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change website describes the canoe as a 'symbol of resilience and unity'

Prof. Steven Hooper, director of the Sainsbury Research Unit has accompanied the canoe to the conference to oversee its installation.