Author: Kirsty Needham
SYDNEY, Jan 8 (Reuters) – A decades-old Pacific environmental group said the United States must go through a formal process to withdraw its support after President Donald Trump listed it as one of 66 entities the United States will leave because they “operate contrary to U.S. national interests.”
On Thursday, Washington said it would withdraw from dozens of international and United Nations entities, including the world’s key climate treaty and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP).
SPREP, based in Samoa, is supporting dozens of low-lying island nations at the United Nations climate conference to raise awareness of the existential threat to their existence from rising sea levels caused by climate change.
The organization employs more than 150 people in Fiji, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and the Republic of the Marshall Islands and carries out projects such as reducing pollution, improving severe weather warning systems and oil spill disaster response plans.
SPREP Director General Sefanaia Nawadra said the United States provided funding and technical expertise, but other partners were expected to help continue its work.
“The United States needs to follow a formal process to withdraw from SPREP membership. They are an important member of SPREP until the formal withdrawal process is completed,” he said in a statement to Reuters.
He added: “The impact will be determined as part of the details of the exit process.”
According to the SPREP annual report, its annual budget comes mainly from five donor countries: Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, France and the United States.
China has also donated US$200,000 annually for several consecutive years.
A Pacific Island government minister, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the U.S. move to withdraw from the group would have a negative impact on U.S. influence in the region, where China is expanding ties.
Some Pacific island nations face new barriers to entry into the United States.
On Wednesday, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Tonga were added to the list of countries whose nationals must pay expensive visa deposits to enter the United States starting January 21.
Tonga was listed in December as a country facing entry restrictions from January 1.
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau discussed immigration during a call with Tongan Prime Minister Lord Fakafanua on Wednesday, he wrote on social media platform X.
The U.S. Embassy in Suva referred a request for comment to the State Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Kate Mayberry)
