No "high-level" US representatives at COP30: a symbolic gesture showing that Trump doesn't care about climate change.

By Le Nouvel Obs with AFP

Published on November 1, 2025 at 5:46 PM

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The United States under Donald Trump is boycotting COP30. They will not send "high-level representatives" to the UN's annual climate conference, which opens on November 10 in Belem, Brazil , the White House announced on Saturday, November 1.

Donald Trump, who called climate change "the greatest hoax ever perpetrated" and mocked climate science at the UN General Assembly a few weeks ago, does not plan to attend.

And the United States will not send "high-level representatives to COP30," a White House official said, explaining that "the president engages directly with world leaders on energy issues, as evidenced by historic trade and peace agreements that all give significant weight to energy partnerships."

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Upon returning to power in January, Donald Trump decided to withdraw the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement once again, as he had done during his first term. However, because a one-year notice period is required before the agreement's effective withdrawal, the country remains a party to it.

Around a hundred local American elected officials will come

But the Republican president is seeking to go even further. Washington recently scuttled a global plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by threatening retaliatory measures against countries that supported it.

And climate advocates fear that Donald Trump is seeking to withdraw the United States from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which could prevent future administrations from rejoining the Paris Agreement.

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While the Trump administration is boycotting the climate event, more than a hundred local American officials—governors, mayors, and other elected representatives—will be attending. “We’re coming in force,” says Gina McCarthy, climate advisor to former US President Joe Biden and co-chair of the “America Is All In” coalition , which brings together these elected officials committed to the climate cause.

"Local elected officials have the power to act on their own initiative, to take climate action both at home and abroad," she added, and "we will keep the promises made to the American people and our international partners."

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva insisted on holding the 30th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (November 10-21) in the Amazon, the world's largest rainforest, which plays a key role in the fight against climate change. He convened a summit of world leaders in Belém beforehand, scheduled for November 6-7. Fewer than sixty have confirmed their attendance so far.

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