NAIROBI, Jan 15 (IPS) – President Donald Trump has escalated efforts to further distance the United States from international organizations and entities focused on climate, environment and energy. This strategy is in line with his administration’s established approach to undermine and divert funds and international cooperation away from climate and clean energy programs.
But where some see a catastrophic escalation, other global experts, such as Yamide Dagnet, Senior Vice President, International at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), see primarily a continued formalization of damaging positions already taken by the current administration.
In January 2025, President Trump initiated a second withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement to limit global warming. At the same time, the US government began significantly reducing funding for climate programs, withdrawing from international climate funds such as the Green Climate Fund, canceling billions in domestic clean energy subsidies, halting climate research and, in general, prioritizing fossil fuels over climate initiatives.
While admitting that this moment is indeed overwhelming, especially as a result of COP30, Dagnet says that “the rest of the world must turn this challenge into an opportunity to break new ground in climate action, financing and international cooperation.”
“I have a stubborn but well-founded optimism. The road ahead will be challenging, but achieving the set climate goals is far from impossible. This is far from a catastrophe. Only one country has withdrawn from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); the rest of the world is still firmly on board.”
Regarding the departure from the UNFCCC, Dagnet’s colleague Jake Schmidt of NRDC noted his blog that the legal consequences are such that constitutional law is uncertain as to whether a president can unilaterally withdraw from international agreements to which the Senate has advised and agreed. The Constitution specifies the entry provisions, but is silent on the exit provisions.
Dagnet also noted that while the withdrawal from the UNFCCC is unprecedented, leaving the United States the only country left out of the foundational UN Climate Treaty, “the exit is not set in stone; a future administration could bring the country back into its fold.”
Nevertheless, the United States will be back in the news on January 27, 2026, when the country will not technically become a signatory of the Paris Agreement and will not be part of international climate negotiations unless the withdrawal is reversed.
“The optimism I feel is also based on pragmatism. In the words of author James Baldwin, ‘Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.’ The US government was not represented at COP30 and yet the world put forward a comprehensive proposal climate action agenda to go beyond promises through accelerated cooperation between governments, businesses, civil society and investors.”
In his 2025 inauguration speech, Trump called oil “liquid gold” and promised to “unleash” America’s fossil fuels in the form of oil and gas. Dagnet says the die has already been cast on the path forward for the United States and that the world must continue to rethink, restrategize and reorganize because those who are in favor of climate action are more than those who are against.
Trump finds a collection of 66 UN and non-UN entities, including those focused on climate and clean energy, that are not aligned with the national interests of the United States. These include the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s most authoritative scientific body on climate change, UN water, UN Oceans and UN Energy.
Others include the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the global authority on technical and policy advice on nature conservation, and the UN Cooperation Program to Reduce Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries.
Non-UN organizations include the International Renewable Energy Agency, Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact, Commission for Environmental Cooperation, Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development, and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.
There are widespread concerns that the withdrawal will have far-reaching negative consequences for climate and clean energy financing and technical support. But Dagnet reminds us that the United States has not paid its dues to the UN by 2025. The UN chief has expressed regret over the country’s departure from UN entities and urged the Trump administration to meet its debts to the international body as the payments are mandatory. The United States owes the largest share, about 22 percent of the regular budget.
Likewise, the United States was already managing to meet many of its climate finance commitments before this withdrawal. While this new development, in addition to inadequate past funding commitments, points to a major retreat from international climate action and support for developing countries, the challenge is not insurmountable.
Climate finance trackers found that even during President Joe Biden’s administration, international contributions to the United States’ climate finance were insufficient and fell far short of targets. Dagnet notes that while the country’s actions in multilateralism represent a setback, multilateralism is also developing and will hopefully be able to enter uncharted territories.
She welcomes the widespread recognition that climate change requires urgent and sustained global cooperation and cooperation. She further emphasized that international cooperation would expand the climate finance basket, as financial support for climate action can come not only from governments, but also from a wide range of non-state and public-private actors.
“This withdrawal is not the end of the road.”
Dagnet is one of nine members of the GHG (Greenhouse Gas) Protocol Steering Committee, the main governing body that directs and oversees the GHG Protocol. The Protocol provides accounting standards and tools to help businesses, countries and cities track progress towards climate goals.
The development of such standards is facilitated by a transparent, multi-stakeholder governance process, drawing on the expertise of business, finance, governments, academia, accountants and civil society. milestone movement and milestone partnershipshe says.
The GHG Protocol guides the global harmonization of greenhouse gas accounting with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), as part of the COP30 action agenda, to enable comprehensive decarbonization action. This joint effort will strengthen the framework conditions (in terms of policy, benchmarking and governance) critical to achieving sectoral breakthrough, and will shape the journey towards the next global stocktake, or stocktake, of progress towards climate goals in line with the Paris Agreement.
Subnational efforts also keep Dagnet pragmatically optimistic and solution-oriented. She felt energized after attending the Resilient Cities Forum 2025 in London, a notable highlight as a major international platform that brought together world leaders and experts to tackle urban resilience, focusing on collaboration, best practices and practical innovation for sustainable, equitable cities. She was inspired by the different and clear visions for a healthier planet.
“The determination was stronger than ever,” says Dagnet.
“Importantly, we have locally designed tools, international frameworks and corporate standards to translate our vision of a more prosperous, healthier and greener future into our lived reality. The worst thing we can do is give up our imagination and our ability to innovate.”
IPS UN office report
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