Summary
- Trump administration confirms no high-level US envoys to COP30.
- US absence reflects hostile stance toward climate crisis action.
- State attorneys general urged no US delegation to legitimize policies.
Even during the first terms of George W. Bush and Donald Trump, when there was little motivation to confront the global warming catastrophe, the US has consistently sent delegations of varying numbers to UN climate summits during the past three decades.
However, there will be an unprecedented lack of an official American presence at the forthcoming negotiations in Belém, Brazil, next month. Trump has already said that the US will leave the Paris Climate Accord, which requires nations to prevent the catastrophic rise in global temperatures, and referred to the climate catastrophe as a "hoax" and a "con job."
“The Green New Scam would have killed America if President Trump had not been elected to implement his commonsense energy agenda – which is focused on utilizing the liquid gold under our feet to strengthen our grid stability and drive down costs for American families and businesses,”
Taylor Rogers, a White House spokeswoman, said in a statement to the Guardian. The “scam” reference relates to the climate policies of Joe Biden.
“President Trump will not jeopardize our country’s economic and national security to pursue vague climate goals that are killing other countries,”
she added.
The US State Department closed the office that usually handles climate problems earlier this year. Additionally eliminated is the role of climate envoy, which Biden held.
The White House has supported a strategy in which Trump makes deals directly with nations, abandoning multilateral negotiations with other nations.
Trump has also urged other countries to shift away from renewable energy.
“If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail,”
the president told leaders at a UN speech last month.
“You need strong borders and traditional energy sources if you are going to be great again.”
The US president has negotiated deals in recent months with the European Union to buy $750 billion worth of U.S. oil and gas, as well as with nations like South Korea and Japan to develop nuclear power, rare earth elements, and fossil fuel projects.
An already problematic conference is made more complicated by the US's absence from the Belém negotiations.
With the message that subnational American authorities are still pushing forward with climate action, a variety of US governors, congressmen, mayors, and activists will be present at the Cop30 meeting.
However, the US government has not offered them any assistance in doing so. “They weren’t even going to send embassy support for the US delegation, which is a fairly standard courtesy for those of us that did go,” Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse said Thursday.
What are the likely diplomatic consequences of the US skipping COP30?
Damaging the US’s credibility and leadership in global climate tactfulness, given its major responsibility for greenhouse gas emigrations and its profitable power. Undermining trust and cooperation with crucial abettors and developing countries that anticipate US participation and backing to support global climate sweats, particularly on climate finance.
Strengthening the peak between the US and major rising husbandry like China and Brazil, who are pushing for further ambitious climate action at COP30. Potentially egging retaliatory measures or trade pressures, similar as corrective tariffs, as part of broader geopolitical disunion related to climate and environmental programs.
Weakening multinational processes under the UNFCCC by reducing US engagement at a critical moment when global agreement is demanded to meet Paris Agreement pretensions.