While dozens of heads of state arrived in Azerbaijan this week for the annual United Nations climate talks, one absent world leader’s name was on everyone’s lips. At press conference after press conference, questions arose about the election of Donald Trump. The US president-elect has threatened to pull the United States out of the landmark Paris climate accord for a second time, delaying the country’s transition to renewable energy.
The Biden administration has sought to project confidence in the early days of the conference, known as COP29, given the country’s status as the world’s largest economy and the second-largest emitter of planet-warming carbon. On the first day of the conference, President Joe Biden’s senior climate adviser, John Podesta, said he expects a lot from Biden’s clean energy achievements — which is expected to put the US within reach of its international climate commitments — will endure a second Trump administration. He added that the US would still release a document outlining its updated plan to do its part to limit global warming below the 2 degree Celsius threshold set out in the 2015 Paris Agreement, as required in that treaty.
“The work to contain climate change continues in the United States with commitment and passion and faith,” he said.
But other signs at the conference suggest that the US has already backed away from a leading role in the fight against climate change. Developing countries have long criticized the US as an obstacle to major climate agreementsespecially on the issue of overseas aid to help poor countries finance their energy transitions and protect themselves from climate-fueled natural disasters. Establishing a new global goal for this kind of international aid is the main agenda item for this year’s conference, but the center of gravity in negotiations has clearly shifted away from the US and towards Europe, China and the dozens of developing countries pushing for a major increase in international aid.
Even Canada, which just announced a $1.5 billion program to help the world’s most vulnerable countries pursue climate adaptation projects, is starting to outpace the US on this issue. Similarly, the headline of the first day of the conference – a cryptic spat over the implications of the agenda structure, which pitted a bloc of developing countries against the European Union over the latter’s carbon tariff system – did not feature the US in a starring role not. roll.
In a huddle with reporters on the second day of the conference, White House climate czar Ali Zaidi appeared to acknowledge a diminished U.S. role in climate talks. He promised that the Biden administration would continue to work toward an ambitious international financial goal, but he acknowledged that climate-conscious Americans may want to “look for other countries to step up to the plate” during the Trump administration.
“We may have less to offer in terms of a projection of leadership certainty,” he said.
Perhaps the clearest indication of the diminished US role in the global climate conundrum is the maze of national pavilions that sprawl across the conference venue at the Baku Olympic Stadium. The US National Pavilions are among the humblest in the entire complex: a plain white room with white chairs, white desks, a television screen and no other decorations except a single potted plant and a few foam board posters.
The Kazakhstan pavilion next door, by contrast, has a massive illumination screen bearing the country’s name and a stage on risers surrounded by handsome blonde wood. The United Kingdom pavilion features a free, full-service cappuccino bar and a full-size model depicting London’s signature red telephone booth. The Brazil Pavilion is decorated with tropical foliage and features a display of baskets by traditional artisans. In the home country pavilion of Azerbaijan, waiting staff serve fresh tea on demand.
“You’re not the first person to say that,” said a member of the US delegation when Grist mentioned the apparent lack of effort put into his country’s pavilion. The member said he was “shocked” when he first saw the space, adding that a more ambitious effort would have helped “show that we care.”
