US seeks to ‘reassure’ world at COP climate conference

The final U.N. climate summit of the Biden era is due to kick off next week amid gloom from many in the environmental community over the election of Donald Trump.

But a top Democrat will be there to “reassure the international community that large swaths of the U.S. remain committed to steering the planet away from climate catastrophe.”

This pledge from Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the chair of the Senate Budget Committee who has used his gavel to link climate change to economic calamity, comes days after Trump’s resounding victory and with Republicans on track to retake control of Congress.

It also comes as green advocates fear the new balance of power in Washington will lead to a rollback of environmental regulations and the end of climate leadership on the world stage.

“Cracking down on methane leakage, decarbonizing our economy, and combatting sea level rise are firmly on my agenda for COP29,” said Whitehouse in a statement to POLITICO’s E&E News. “But we can’t ignore that Donald Trump, Republicans, and their fossil fuel mega-donors are aiming a torpedo at the climate progress Democrats have made in the last four years.”

He added, “We will not give up the fight for climate action and against the fossil fuel corruption that’s soon to take power in Washington.”

Whitehouse had already announced plans to head to Baku, Azerbaijan, for the climate talks, which are set to take place from Nov. 11-22. His office confirmed Thursday he will still be leading a “smaller delegation of just Democrats” from Nov. 16-17.

House Energy and Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said in September he, too, would be attending the summit. His spokesperson had no further details to share this week about whether he would be traveling with colleagues.

But the significance of this year’s summit has intensified in the aftermath of the election, which will usher in a dramatic shift in climate policy. Trump, who has called climate change a “hoax,” withdrew the U.S. from the Paris climate accord during his last time in the White House and deprioritized climate action across the federal government.

Jonathan Pershing, the program director of environment at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation who previously had a leading role in U.N. climate talks on behalf of the Biden and Obama administrations, suggested in the press call hosted by the World Resources Institute that the international community wouldn’t miss Congress’ participation one way or the other.

Congress has an important role to play in approving aid for climate projects abroad, but Republican opposition to foreign assistance has prevented the U.S. from meaningfully increasing funding, Perishing said.

The Biden administration has increased climate finance from the previous Trump administration, but it remains well below what small economies in Europe contribute. In other words, U.S. contributions won‘t be missed.

At the same time, Pershing recalled the time it took to “rebuild trust” between the international community and the United States in 2008, when President Barack Obama was elected after eight years of President George W. Bush. When Biden was elected to replace Trump in 2020, Pershing continued, “it took the first entire year to establish the sense that the U.S. was a worthy partner.”

He predicted a similar dynamic will be at play this time around, where the United States would “abdicate” its role as a leader on climate action and the country’s reputation would suffer for it.

“To me,” Pershing said, “that is the worst outcome.”

Democratic lawmakers could fill that void, said Lori Lodes, president of Climate Power.

“One of the most important things” members can tell counterparts in Baku, she told reporters, “is that America is still all in. Just because Trump is president doesn’t mean that those 26 governors are all of a sudden going to walk away from their 100 percent clean energy plans.”

“The emissions reductions are happening at the state and local levels, the investments in clean energy are skyrocketing, and so the U.S. is not going anywhere,” Lodes continued. “This changes nothing.”

Reporter Sara Schonhardt contributed.

This story also appears in E&E Daily.