NAIROBI, January 15 (IPS) – President Donald Trump has escalated efforts to additional distance the USA from worldwide organizations and entities centered on local weather, the atmosphere, and vitality. This technique is in keeping with his administration’s established strategy to undermine and redirect funds and worldwide cooperation away from local weather and clear vitality applications.
However the place some see a catastrophic escalation, different international consultants, equivalent to Yamide Dagnet, Senior Vice President, Worldwide on the Pure Assets Protection Council (NRDC), see in the beginning a seamless formalization of damaging positions already taken by the present administration.
In January 2025, President Trump initiated a second withdrawal from the Paris Settlement on local weather change to restrict international warming. Concurrently, the U.S. administration started to considerably cut back funding for local weather applications, withdrawing from worldwide local weather funds such because the Inexperienced Local weather Fund, cancelling billions in home clear vitality grants, halting local weather analysis and, general, prioritizing fossil fuels over local weather initiatives.
Whereas conceding that the second at hand is certainly overwhelming, particularly approaching the again of COP30, Dagnet advised IPS that “the remainder of the world should flip this problem into a chance to interrupt new floor in local weather motion, financing and worldwide cooperation.”
“I’ve a cussed but grounded optimism. The trail forward can be difficult however attaining the set-out local weather objectives is way from not possible. That is removed from a disaster. Just one nation has withdrawn from the U.N. Framework Conference on Local weather Change (UNFCCC); the remainder of the world remains to be firmly on board.”
Concerning the exit from UNFCCC, Dagnet’s colleague Jake Schmidt from NRDC, identified in his weblog that the authorized ramifications are such that it’s unsettled constitutional regulation whether or not a president can unilaterally withdraw from worldwide agreements that the Senate gave its recommendation and consent to hitch. The Structure specifies the entry provisions, however it’s silent on the exit provisions.
Dagnet additionally famous that whereas the withdrawal from the UNFCCC is unprecedented, making the USA the one nation outdoors the bedrock UN Local weather Treaty, “the exit shouldn’t be solid in stone; a future administration may convey the nation again to the fold.”
Nonetheless, the USA can be again within the headlines come January 27, 2026, when the nation will technically develop into a non-signatory to the Paris settlement and won’t be a part of worldwide local weather negotiations until the withdrawal is reversed.
“The optimism I really feel can be grounded in pragmatism. To borrow the phrases of creator James Baldwin, ‘Not every little thing that’s confronted might be modified, however nothing might be modified till it’s confronted.’ The U.S. administration was not represented at COP30 and nonetheless the world pushed ahead a complete local weather motion agenda to maneuver past pledges by means of accelerated collaboration between governments, companies, civil society, and traders.”
In his 2025 inauguration speech, Trump referred to as oil ‘liquid gold’ and vowed to ‘unleash’ America’s fossil fuels within the type of oil and gasoline. Dagnet says the die was already solid on the trail ahead for the USA and that the world ought to proceed to rethink, re-strategize and reorganize, for many who are for local weather motion are greater than these towards.
Trump finds an assortment of 66 UN and non-UN entities, together with these centered on local weather and clear vitality, that aren’t aligned with the USA’ nationwide pursuits. They embrace the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Local weather Change (IPCC), which is the world’s most authoritative scientific physique on local weather change, UN water, UN Oceans and UN Vitality.
Others are the Worldwide Union for Conservation of Nature, which is the worldwide authority on technical and coverage recommendation on conservation, and the UN Collaborative Programme on Decreasing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Creating nations.
Non-UN organizations embrace the Worldwide Renewable Vitality Company, Renewable Vitality Coverage Community for the twenty first Century, 24/7 Carbon-Free Vitality Compact, Fee for Environmental Cooperation, Intergovernmental Discussion board on Mining, Minerals, and Sustainable Improvement, and the Intergovernmental Science-Coverage Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Providers.
There are widespread considerations that the withdrawal can have far-reaching destructive penalties on financing and technical help for local weather and clear vitality. However Dagnet reminds us that the USA didn’t pay its dues to the UN in 2025. The UN Chief has expressed remorse over the nation’s exit from UN entities and urged the Trump administration to settle what’s owed to the worldwide physique, because the funds are obligatory. The USA owes the most important share, amounting to about 22 % of the common price range.
Equally, earlier than this withdrawal, the USA was already failing to satisfy a lot of its local weather finance commitments. Whereas this new growth, alongside previous inadequate funding pledges, alerts a significant retreat from worldwide local weather motion and help for growing nations, that problem is not insurmountable.
Local weather financing trackers discovered that even throughout President Joe Biden’s administration, the USA’ worldwide local weather finance contributions have been inadequate and fell far in need of objectives. Dagnet notes that whereas the nation’s actions on multilateralism characterize a setback, multilateralism can be evolving and can hopefully be able to navigating uncharted territories.
She hails the broad recognition that local weather change urgently and sustainably requires international cooperation and collaboration. She additional burdened that worldwide cooperation would increase the local weather finance basket, as monetary help for local weather motion can come not solely from governments but in addition from a various array of non-state and public-private actors.
“This withdrawal shouldn’t be the tip of the highway.”
Dagnet is certainly one of 9 members of the GHG (Greenhouse Gasoline) Protocol Steering Committee, which is the first governing physique offering path and oversight to the GHG Protocol. The Protocol offers accounting requirements and instruments to assist the company sector, nations and cities observe progress in the direction of local weather objectives.
The event of such requirements is facilitated by means of a clear multi-stakeholder governance course of, drawing on experience from enterprise, finance, governments, academia, auditors and civil society in a milestone transfer and landmark partnership, she says.
The GHG Protocol is main the worldwide harmonization of greenhouse gasoline accounting with the Worldwide Group for Standardization (ISO), as a part of the COP30 Motion Agenda, to allow complete decarbonization motion. This collaborative effort will strengthen the enabling situations (by way of coverage, benchmarking, and governance) which can be paramount to attaining sectoral breakthrough and can form the journey in the direction of the subsequent international stocktake, or stock taking, on progress in the direction of local weather objectives in keeping with the Paris Settlement.
Subnational efforts additionally maintain Dagnet pragmatically optimistic and solutions-focused. Certainly, she felt energized after attending the Resilient Cities Discussion board 2025 in London, a outstanding spotlight as a significant worldwide platform the place international leaders and consultants converged to deal with city resilience, emphasizing collaboration, finest practices and sensible innovation for sustainable, equitable cities. She was impressed by the assorted and clear visions for a more healthy planet.
“The resolve was stronger than ever,” says Dagnet.
“Importantly, we’ve got domestically designed instruments, worldwide frameworks and company requirements to show our imaginative and prescient in the direction of a extra affluent, more healthy and greener future into our lived actuality. The worst we are able to do is to surrender our creativeness and talent to innovate.”
IPS UN Bureau Report
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