Pacific

Mr Trump said during his campaign he would pull out of the Paris climate accord although reports indicate he has softened his approach.

In a speech this morning in Suva, Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said without America the battle against climate change is doomed.

He told diplomats, NGOs and government officials Mr Trump must be persuaded to change his mind.

He said if the US does withdraw from the agreement there is no hope for the world to comprehensively tackle the issue.

RNZ reports Vice-President Kourabi Nenem  at the sanctuary's launch said that the nation was committed to protecting sharks from exploitation and overfishing.

Kiribati has banned commercial shark fishing in the sanctuary, which is about the size of India.

Palau established the region's first shark sanctuary in 2009.

The Marshall Islands and Tokelau followed suit in 2011 and a year later French Polynesia and the Cook Islands created adjacent shark sanctuaries spanning almost 4 million square kilometres of ocean.

Sitiveni Halapua is behind plans for Tonga's remote northern islands, the Niuas, to get a new shipping service that they will own and control.

A trimaran, that can carry a few passengers and some cargo, is being launched by its builders in New Zealand this weekend.

Dr Halapua said because of the often small populations on remote islands all over the Pacific, services are often irregular and usually expensive.

He said he had been approached by leaders around the Pacific who are interested in his idea.

RNZ reports they are meeting at the COP 22 meeting in Morocco.

The Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) said the chant of "1.5 to stay alive" has been given wider recognition within the Paris Agreement, which was produced at last year's COP meeting.

SPREP said that by 2018, a special report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and the related global greenhouse gas emissions will be released, giving further weight to the chants of "1.5 to stay alive".

A US Navy submarine carrying nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles is visiting Guam for the first time since the late 1980s and US and Japanese troops will practice amphibious landings on Pacific islands.

The submarine USS Pennsylvania (SSBN 735) is making what the Navy formally calls a "scheduled port visit" to the US territory in the Pacific, according to a Navy press statement.

But a US defense official says that both Japanese and South Korean delegations are in Guam at this time and will be offered rare tours of the submarine.

This is the second regional training workshop in as many years and falls under the Pacific Early Age Readiness and Learning (PEARL) Program.

Over 50 participants are taking part in the workshop, representing eight Pacific Island countries as well as development partners, and practitioners. 

RBZ reports fifty percent of Pacific island people are now under the age of 25, a phenomenon called the "youth bulge."

PhD candidate, Aidan Crany, said the youth bulge is an untapped resource for the Pacific that if disregarded could cause social instability.

He said skill gaps in Pacific economies are not being filled by local students who are not encouraged to become trades people.

"The problem there seems to be as much as anything, skilled trades," he said.

Disaster managers from 15 Pacific Island countries, disaster risk reduction experts and humanitarian response partners are coming together to help create a more disaster-resilient Pacific. They aim to strengthen national and regional collaboration on disaster mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery from disaster.

RNZ reports that is the typical annual number over the past 30 years and the agencies say conditions are likely to be near average over most islands through this time.

They warn that all countries should remain vigilant in case conditions in the equatorial Pacific change during the cyclone season.

They warn that intensification, especially late in the season, is common.

The partnership involves the certification of 14 Digicel staff as MoneyMinded trainers to deliver the programme to their staff and community partners.

ANZ Regional Executive Pacific, Tessa Price, welcomed the partnership, describing the initiative as one that would help build financial management skills across the region.