Trump’s power plays overshadow global climate summit

“I think there’s a common understanding and agreement that he’s going to start with Paris and then look at other ideas,” said the official, who was granted anonymity to discuss evolving policy considerations.

Mandy Gunasekara, who was chief of staff at the EPA during the last Trump administration, has advocated that Trump follow through this time on leaving the climate framework.

“I think people have a clear picture of how the U.N. process is misused to tie the hands of domestic policy,” she said, inaccurately characterizing the non-binding commitments that countries make under the Paris climate agreement. “And that … creates the type of policy motivation necessary to consider withdrawing from the UNFCCC versus just a derivative issue like the Paris Agreement.”

The U.S. under Trump may still find ways to participate in global climate conversations, particularly with regard to deploying new technology such as advanced nuclear power or carbon capture, said U.S. Energy Association CEO Mark Menezes, who was No. 2 in Trump’s previous Energy Department. But contributing new sums of money to developing country climate projects is likely a non-starter, he said.

“If it’s about the U.S. is going to put up billions of dollars, and other countries won’t contribute to any kind of funds, I don’t think that that’s going to get very far,” Menezes said.

The cognitive dissonance between the goings-on in Washington and Baku was, for at least one leader, too much to bear.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama said he had discarded his “well-prepared speech” after sitting in the lounge set aside for leaders waiting for their three-minute speaking slots. What did it all mean, he asked, “if the world’s biggest polluters continue business as usual?”

“I was watching the silent TV screens,” Rama said. “People there eat, drink, meet and take photos together while those images of voiceless speeches from leaders play on and on and on in the background. To me, this seems exactly like what happens in the real world every day. Life goes on with its old habits, and our speeches — full of good words about fighting climate change — change nothing.”