Does the World’s Climate Summit Matter?

In April, Secretary of State Marco Rubio eliminated the State Department’s Office of Global Change, the federal body responsible for climate-related international diplomacy, and terminated its employees. This doesn’t mean there won’t be American voices heard in Belém, only that those voices won’t represent the federal government. Philip Rossetti, a resident senior fellow on energy at R Street Institute, told [The Morning Dispatch], “You might have attendees that aren’t necessarily representing the administration or the government, but they still might … be able to open up dialogue.” In fact, most COP attendees are not part of delegations sent by foreign leaders, but are individuals who work or conduct research in the field of climate policy. “You have a lot of people who aren’t actually affiliated [with the] government,” Rossetti said, “but are going there just to participate in public events and meet other people who are interested in these issues and have their own sort of side chats and side events…”

“One of the challenges is that, even though the United States is the second largest emitter, there are very few commitments from the world’s largest emitter, which is China,” Rossetti said. “So, from a kind of strategic perspective,” he added, “the U.S. just doesn’t want to do anything if it’s going to put it in a worse position, both economically and strategically, vis-à-vis China.” While China did not send a delegation to COP29 in November 2024, Chinese state-sanctioned media reported in April that President Xi Jinping planned to submit 2035 climate and emission targets before COP30, as required by all Paris Agreement signatory nations.