The US will not send any "high level" officials to this year's UN Cop 30 climate summit in Brazil, according to a White House official.
Instead, President Donald Trump is engaging directly with world leaders on energy issues, the official said, citing his "historic" trade deals that have a "significant focus" on energy partnerships.
"President Trump will not jeopardize our country's economic and national security to pursue vague climate goals that are killing other countries," the White House said.
The UN climate conference is being held in Belem, in the Amazon region, and is scheduled to run from 10-21 November. Among the key issues will be getting countries to bolster their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions-reduction pledges and increasing global climate finance. Brazil is also holding a pre-Cop summit of world leaders in an attempt to provide some early momentum to the talks.
The White House did not say whether the US will send any lower-level officials but the decision not to have senior officials attend is not surprising given Trump's increased antagonism toward climate policy during his second term. The president has again withdrawn the US from the Paris climate agreement while seeking to roll back many climate and clean energy policies enacted by prior administrations. He has also been much more vocal about his belief that climate change is the "greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world."
With the US federal government presence at Cop diminished, various coalitions of state and local leaders hope to use the conference and to show other countries that there is progress being made in the US.
One of those groups, the US Climate Alliance, today said its members, as of 2023, have collectively reduced GHG emissions by 24pc below 2005 levels, largely through the transition away from coal- and natural gas-fired power generation. The coalition of 24 state and territorial governors is aiming for a 26pc reduction by the end of this year.
"Americans want a cleaner, safer, healthier future and that's what we will continue delivering," Alliance co-chairs Wisconsin governor Tony Evers (D) and California governor Gavin Newsom (D) said. "No matter the obstacles, we are pressing forward."
On the other side, 17 state attorneys general, all Republicans, last month called on Trump to skip the talks, saying a US presence would "... serve only to legitimize such unsound science and policies" that could hurt the country's energy security.
