A former UN climate chief has warned that victory for Donald Trump in the US presidential election this year could put the world’s climate goals at risk.
Patricia Espinosa, who served as the UN’s top official on the climate from 2016 to 2022 said that the chances of limiting global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels are already slim, but Trump’s antipathy to climate action would have a major impact on the US, the world’s second biggest emitter of greenhouse gases and biggest oil and gas exporter.
“I worry [about the potential election of Trump] because it would have very strong consequences, if we see a regression regarding climate policies in the US,” Espinosa said. Although Trump’s policy plans are not clear, conversations with his circle have created a worrying picture that could include the cancellation of Joe Biden’s groundbreaking climate legislation, withdrawal from the Paris agreement, and a push for more drilling for oil and
Speaking further, Espinosa said “We are not yet aligned to 1.5C. That’s the reality. So if we see a situation where we would see regression on those efforts, then [the likelihood of staying within 1.5C] is very limited. It would certainly be a much bigger risk,”.
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“We could see a slowdown, an even bigger slowdown [in action to reduce emissions] which would unfortunately probably take us to an even more terrible scenario, unless we see strong leadership coming from other places, [such as] Europe.”
She said that other countries must continue with climate action, even if the US were to renege on its goals under Trump, but the absence of the US would be a significant blow. “What happens in the US has a very big impact in so many places around the world.”
She said that if other countries put up a united front in favour of strong climate action, it could help to counteract the absence of the US. “When President Trump announced that they would withdraw from the Paris agreement, there was a certain fear that others would follow, and that there would be a setback in the pace of the climate change process. Not only did that not happen, but some countries that had not yet adhered to the Paris agreement did so,” she said.
If Trump took the US out of Paris in a fresh term, she did not believe others would follow suit: “As of now, I don’t see countries really going back. I think that the process will continue.”
On the contentious issue – particularly for the US – of climate finance, Espinosa said Biden was now facing difficulty in getting climate finance commitments through a hostile Republican Congress.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
