Net zero gains A Cop30 minus Trump is better than one with a US wrecking ball

For years, countries around the world pressed the US to engage with them in addressing the climate crisis and to show it was serious about taking action.

- Oliver Milman

Now, with key UN climate talks under way in Brazil, there was an air of relief among some diplomats when the White House said no high-level representatives would attend the Cop30 summit in Belém. “President Trump will not jeopardise our country’s economic and national security to pursue vague climate goals that are killing other countries,” a White House spokesperson said.

“If the choice is no US or a US that is there as a spoiler, to wreck and disrupt things, then I think most countries would prefer there to be no US,” a former senior state department official said. “I mean, we are now to the right of Saudi Arabia, when you think about it. The Saudis negotiate hard but they are OK with the Paris agreement. They aren’t against the word ‘climate’.”