The United States is increasingly being left out of, or removing itself from, international climate talks. Since President Donald Trump came into office, he has set the United States on a different energy path, backtracking on a wide range of climate actions taken by the Biden administration.
Due to the government’s apparent lack of interest in climate and environmental issues, President Trump has been absent from various international forums over the last year, resulting in less U.S. input in global climate and energy targets than in previous years.
Trump Administration Climate Actions
Upon his inauguration in January 2025, President Trump announced his intention to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement for the second time, making the United States the only country to withdraw from the pact. The only other countries not included in the agreement are Iran, Libya, and Yemen.
That same month, the Trump administration announced it would also withdraw from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), under which the Paris treaty was adopted. During his first year as President, Trump has repeatedly criticized climate science, calling the climate crisis “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world”, and has called for a halt in the deployment of most renewable energy capacity.
On May 2, 2025, President Trump released a discretionary 2026 budget request that included the elimination of climate-related funding. Upon his announcement, the White House posted a fact sheet entitled “Ending the Green New Scam”.
Absence from COP30
In the lead-up to the United Nations’ annual Conference of the Parties (COP) climate summit in November last year, many questioned whether U.S. representatives would attend.
President Trump’s presence seemed less likely after he criticized climate action during a September UN speech. Trump addressed other country leaders, saying, “If you don’t get away from this green scam, your country is going to fail… You need strong borders and traditional energy sources if you are going to be great again.”
Ahead of COP30, the White House announced that no high-level representatives would attend the summit in Belém, Brazil. A White House spokesperson told reporters, “President Trump will not jeopardize our country’s economic and national security to pursue vague climate goals that are killing other countries.”
At the time, one former senior State Department official said, “Before, it was benign neglect, even in Trump’s first term… Now it’s quite the opposite. They don’t want to participate and don’t want others to, either.” The official added, “If the choice is no U.S. or a U.S. that is there as a spoiler, to wreck and disrupt things, then I think most countries would prefer there to be no U.S.”
No Voice in Negotiations
President Trump’s absence from international climate talks has essentially left the United States without a voice on global climate issues. In a January executive order, Trump suspended U.S. support for 66 international bodies and commissions, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The president stated in a post on his social media that the organizations “no longer serve American interests.”
If the United States completes its withdrawal from the UNFCCC, it will be one of the few countries without representation at international climate talks. Kristie Ebi, a climate scientist at the University of Washington, explained, “When you look at all these conventions and the history of participation, even when countries were not really actively engaged in negotiations, it’s pretty astonishing to walk away from the table and have decisions taken without your input.”
Meanwhile, former Vice President Al Gore stated, “By withdrawing from the IPCC, UNFCCC, and the other vital international partnerships, the Trump Administration is undoing decades of hard-won diplomacy, attempting to undermine climate science, and sowing distrust around the world.”
U.S. Left Out Again – the First Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels Conference
In April, the United States was absent at the latest international climate talks – the First Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels Conference. During the summit, diplomats from nearly 60 countries gathered in Colombia to discuss how to transition away from fossil fuels to support a global green transition.
This time, the United States was not invited to participate, given Trump’s previous lack of interest in climate forums. While not all UNFCCC member states attended, several major players took part in the conference, including EU member states, the U.K., the COP31 co-hosts – Turkey and Australia, and dozens of developing countries.
In addition to concerns about the potentially devastating effects of climate change, the recent geopolitical tensions, which have led to the closure of a key energy trade corridor – the Strait of Hormuz – give even greater cause for concern.
Countries that are heavily dependent on fossil fuels have been highly vulnerable to the volatile oil and gas prices in recent months, prompting many to discuss the potential for accelerated deployment of clean energy capacity to diversify their energy supplies and ensure their future energy security.
The United States’ absence from international climate talks has meant it has had little input in global climate and green transition goals, setting it apart from the coordinated actions of several other major world powers. This could therefore harm the United States’ long-term efforts for cooperative energy and climate action.
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