No high-level US representatives will go to UN climate talks, Trump officials say

Decision to stay away from Cop30 meeting in Brazil underscores administration’s hostility to climate action

Brazil will host the UN climate conference COP30 in the Amazonian city of Belem. File picture: Carlos Fabal/Getty

The Trump administration has confirmed that no high-level representatives will be sent by the US to upcoming UN climate talks in Brazil, underscoring the administration’s hostile stance towards action on the climate crisis.

The US has always sent delegations of various sizes to UN climate summits over the past three decades, even during periods under George W Bush and Donald Trump’s first term where there was scant desire to address the global heating crisis.