Trump failure to lead on climate doesn’t faze UN policymakers in Bonn
Kaisa Kosonen, a political advisor on climate action for Greenpeace in Germany is prepping for the mid-year United Nations climate conference in Bonn, running May 8-18. But she pauses to answer my question. Here’s the set up, I say: Under President Obama, the U.S. played the lead role in global climate negotiations since 2014, drawing China into the fold, while pushing for the historic Paris Agreement in 2015, when 196 nations pledged to reduce their carbon footprint. Under President Trump, U.S. leadership is waning, or could become oppositional, as the president allies himself with the fossil fuel industry and threatens withdrawal from Paris. China, meanwhile, looks poised to step into the leadership vacuum. — How concerned are you? Kosonen responds: “Obviously, we need the U.S. to engage actively in solving this problem [of global warming]. And that’s what a clear majority of Americans want, too, across party lines. But it doesn’t seem like Trump will listen to his people, his top scientists or even American business,” which has lobbied loudly for the U.S. to stay in the Paris Agreement, as have some Republican lawmakers.
