A scholar of Pacific geopolitics says the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement leaves the door open for China to increase its influence in the Pacific.

US President Donald Trump announced the pullout last week saying the agreement aimed at reducing global warming disadvantaged the US and that he hoped to see a better deal.

China’s president Xi Jinping said fighting climate change was a global consensus and an international responsibility.

Anna Powles of the Massey Centre for Defence and Security Studies said Mr Trump’s announcement sends a strong signal to island countries in their climate change fight.

“This is a very clear message that the US is no longer a partner for Pacific states but who do they look to?

“Will they look to China which is stepping up very strongly as a climate leader? That obviously will have flow on effects in terms of China’s influence and soft power in the region,” she said.

But Dr Powles says the US withdrawal also raises other questions like whether China will keep its climate funding commitments.