The president set a tone for isolating the U.S. on climate change on his first day in office, when he said the country would leave the 2015 Paris Agreement, a global pact aimed at holding temperature increases under 2 degrees Celsius. That move will take effect later this month. Departing the Green Climate Fund, or GCF, is the latest effort that could have destabilizing effects on international programs to reduce climate pollution.
“Our nation will no longer fund radical organizations like the GCF whose goals run contrary to the fact that affordable, reliable energy is fundamental to economic growth and poverty reduction,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement Thursday.
The U.S. will immediately withdraw from …
The president set a tone for isolating the U.S. on climate change on his first day in office, when he said the country would leave the 2015 Paris Agreement, a global pact aimed at holding temperature increases under 2 degrees Celsius. That move will take effect later this month. Departing the Green Climate Fund, or GCF, is the latest effort that could have destabilizing effects on international programs to reduce climate pollution.
“Our nation will no longer fund radical organizations like the GCF whose goals run contrary to the fact that affordable, reliable energy is fundamental to economic growth and poverty reduction,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement Thursday.
The U.S. will immediately withdraw from the fund and give up its board seat, Bessent added.
The fund has approved more than $19 billion for over 300 projects since 2015. Aiming to cut emissions and build resilience, it has funded efforts to reduce deforestation, support disaster warning systems and protect agriculture. One of its latest projects will provide about $300 million to Jordan for addressing persistent water shortages.
“It helps developing countries respond to the very real impacts of climate change so there is a lot of support for the work the GCF does and the impact the GCF has,” said Bella Tonkonogy, a Treasury adviser during President Joe Biden’s administration.
The fund has long been in Republican crosshairs. In February, Trump canceled $4 billion in outstanding pledges the U.S. had previously committed to under Democratic administrations. It was the first time a country has rescinded a commitment to the GCF.
In that way, Thursday’s announcement won’t come as a surprise since the U.S. wasn’t expected to provide funding under the Trump administration. But it will mean the U.S. no longer has input on how the money will be deployed, and it could put more pressure on other countries to step up funding in the future at a time when many nations are also scaling back overseas development assistance.
“So these institutions are really going to have to figure out their financial model and make it less reliant on external funding and that’s going to be a huge challenge,” said Clemence Landers, a former Treasury official who now serves as a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development.