On the eve of the pivotal COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, the global climate community finds itself at a crossroads. The United States, under President Donald Trump, has announced that none of its officials will attend the talks, a move that has cast a long shadow over the proceedings and sent ripples of concern through international climate circles. The absence of the world’s largest economy and one of its top emitters is more than symbolic—it’s a tangible blow to the momentum of global climate action, according to many experts and officials.
EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra did not mince words, telling CleanTechnica that the lack of US presence would “absolutely dampen the mood of participants.” He went on to emphasize the outsized influence the US wields, calling it “the largest, the most dominant, most important geopolitical player from the whole world.” Yet, Hoekstra also noted this absence could open new doors: “The world’s second largest emitter’s absence can also open up opportunities for new partnerships and opportunities.”
The Trump administration’s stance on climate has been nothing if not controversial. Trump has pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement not once, but twice—the latest exit set to become official in January 2026. He has famously called global warming “the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world” and has claimed wind turbines kill whales. According to CleanTechnica, Trump 2.0 is now waging a “war on climate change research,” echoing the priorities of fossil fuel interests.
Despite the federal government’s retreat, US climate advocates, coalitions, mayors, and governors are determined to keep the country’s climate commitments alive. More than 100 local leaders will attend COP30, led by Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham, America Is All In co-chair Gina McCarthy, and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego. Their mission: to reinforce the goals of the Paris Agreement, showcase local solutions that cut energy costs and pollution, and demonstrate that Trump “does not represent the entirety, or even anywhere near a majority, of us,” as Collin Rees of Oil Change International told The Guardian.
This groundswell of subnational leadership is not just symbolic. According to John Noel, senior strategist at Greenpeace International, US-based campaigners plan to “reassure our global comrades and colleagues that there’s still a robust movement in the states to maintain pressure around various forms of climate action.” The Under2 Coalition, representing states and regions, will use COP30 to highlight the essential role of subnational actors in achieving global climate goals, pushing for measurable results across energy, nature, resilience, and a just transition.
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) added another layer of urgency in July 2025, affirming that a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is a foundational human right. This landmark ruling, as reported by CleanTechnica, acknowledged that environmental health is essential for the enjoyment of all other human rights. The United Nations echoed this sentiment in a November 3 report, warning that climate impacts are “steadily becoming material risks to banks and insurers, including the human impact of the changes that are occurring.” The report urges financial institutions to “be proactive, demonstrate leadership, and position themselves at the forefront of emerging opportunities in sustainable finance.”
Rachel Rose Jackson, research director at Corporate Accountability, did not hold back in her assessment: “The United States … has always been a bad faith actor when it comes to climate action and the biggest blocker of meaningful progress. It has walked away from doing its fair share time and time again; the only difference now is that its bad intentions are on public display for all to see more clearly.” She predicted that the US would still influence the talks from the sidelines, “orchestrating their great escape from climate action,” and reminded that the US “still controls the purse strings.”
Meanwhile, north of the border, Canada’s approach to climate policy is drawing both cautious relief and criticism. On November 5, 2025, Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first budget doubled down on the country’s industrial carbon pricing system—the largest tool in Canada’s emissions-reduction arsenal. The budget commits to making carbon pricing more consistent nationwide and providing greater certainty about carbon prices beyond 2030, a move welcomed by industry and climate experts alike.
Yrjö Koskinen, director of research at the Institute for Sustainable Finance at Queen’s University, told CBC, “I was positively surprised perhaps because my expectations were fairly low. The budget emphasizes that climate policies are an economic necessity.” Chris Severson-Baker of the Pembina Institute added that “the price of carbon for the industrial sector will continue to rise over time,” which is critical for long-term investment in emissions reductions.
However, the budget is not without its shortcomings. Rachel Doran, executive director at Clean Energy Canada, argued that the government “failed to connect everyday Canadians with climate action,” calling for more support for home retrofits and affordable electric vehicles. Canada, she pointed out, is falling behind regions like Asia in the clean technology race, even as the US under Trump has ramped up fossil fuel support and suspended regulations on electric vehicles and consumer carbon taxes.
The Canadian Climate Institute recently warned that Canada will not meet its 2030 emissions target of reducing emissions to 40-45% of 2005 levels. The Carney government’s budget mentions upcoming regulations to tackle methane emissions and boost electric vehicle sales, but many details remain vague, leaving some experts worried about the country’s overall trajectory.
Back at COP30, the absence of an official US delegation has heightened expectations for other players. “Without the US, there’s still a chance the world could come together in Belém,” Claudio Angelo of Observatório do Clima told Nature. US climate advocates are determined to fill the vacuum, planning to foreground “polluter pay” mechanisms—already the law in Vermont and New York—at the summit. Jean Su of the Center for Biological Diversity summed up the sentiment: “We’ve got to show the rest of the world that the administration’s assault on the climate is unpopular. During this dark turn, this type of physical collective showing humanity couldn’t be more important.”
The stakes at COP30 could not be higher—and the protests are expected to be the largest seen at any climate conference in years. As Yamide Dagnet of the Natural Resources Defense Council put it, “There are different trends showing that the rest of the world is still working towards getting their economy more resilient for a more prosperous future, and that prosperous future cannot happen without taking into account the climate.”
With world leaders, local officials, and activists converging on the Amazon, the path forward for global climate action remains uncertain but fiercely contested. The absence of the US federal government has galvanized others to step up, ensuring that, one way or another, the fight for a sustainable future presses on.