PRESIDENT Donald Trump has announced it will withdraw support for the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
This is part of a major withdrawal by the US of financial support from organisations which deal with the environment and climate change.
Early this year, Trump announced the US withdrawal from COP.
Trump has long been a climate change skeptic but this most recent move solidifies the US policy shift on environmental issues.
It signals also that US companies now have the green light to pursue deep sea mining efforts in the Pacific despite national and regional concerns.
Full US statement below: