US Exits Board of Hard-Fought Loss and Damage Fund, Further Distancing Itself From Global Climate Commitments

Separately, the US last week voted against a resolution on creating an International Day of Peaceful Coexistence and reaffirming the 2030 Agenda, a global framework to achieve sustainable development and promote peace and prosperity around the world.

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President Donald Trump has moved to withdraw the US from the board of a United Nation’s hard-fought climate damage fund aimed at helping developing nations cope with climate change-fuelled disasters.

A letter to fund co-chair Jean-Christophe Donnellier and seen by Reuters said both the US Board Member and the US Alternate Board Member will step down “effective immediately.” It was not clear from the letter whether this also meant the country was pulling out entirely from the fund, which is hosted by the World Bank, whose president is appointed by the US.

The “loss and damage” fund was instituted at the COP27 summit in 2022, marking a huge win for developing countries seeking justice for the damage incurring from a crisis they did not create. Nearly 200 countries, including the US, approved a framework for the fund at COP28 a year later.

As of 23 January 2025, 27 countries and regions have pledged a total of US$741 million to the fund, according to UN figures. $17.5 million came from the US.

More on the topic: Explainer: What Is ‘Loss and Damage’ Compensation?

‘Soft Global Governance Inconsistent With US Sovereignty’

Separately, the US last week voted against a UN resolution on creating an International Day of Peaceful Coexistence and reaffirming the 2030 Agenda, a global framework to achieve sustainable development and promote piece and prosperity around the world. It was the only country to reject the resolution along with Israel and Argentina.

US representative to the United Nations Edward Heartney said during a UN General Assembly plenary meeting on Tuesday that the 2030 Agenda “advance[s] a program of soft global governance that is inconsistent with US sovereignty and adverse to the rights and interests of Americans.”

The 2030 Agenda, which was unanimously adopted by all UN members in 2015, consists of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) promoting a “universal, integrated, transformative and human rights-based vision for sustainable development, peace and security.” The goals, to be achieved by this decade’s end, concern topics from poverty alleviation to biodiversity conservation, gender equality, and quality education.

Referring to President Donald Trump’s “America first” agenda, Heartney said the country was ready to “care first and foremost for our own.” He also said Trump’s “clear and overdue course correction on ‘gender’ and climate ideology” were no longer consistent with what the SDGs promote.

SDG 5 concerns gender equality, aiming to grant women and girls equal rights and opportunities to live free of violence and discrimination. Meanwhile, SDG 13 was established to promote action to combat climate change and its impacts.

“Put simply, globalist endeavors like Agenda 2030 and the SDGs lost at the ballot box. Therefore, the United States rejects and denounces the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals, and it will no longer reaffirm them as a matter of course,” Heartney said.

On the same day, the US also voted against a resolution to institute an International Day of Hope – the only country to oppose it – saying the text “contains references to diversity, equity and inclusion that conflict with US policies that seek to eliminate all forms of discrimination and create equal opportunities for all.”

Anti-Climate Agenda

Last week’s moves are part of the new administration’s broader anti-climate agenda. Since taking office in January, Trump moved to withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement, halt international development aid, and undo much of his predecessor’s advancements in climate action and environmental protection. 

Last month, a State Department delegation was banned from travelling to China for a key meeting of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). President Trump also reportedly ordered federal scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Global Change Research Program to stop work on all other IPCC climate assessment-related activities.

Founded in 1988 to advance scientific knowledge about human-made climate change, the IPCC publishes comprehensive scientific assessments every five to seven years to inform policymakers on the crisis and its potential future risks, and puts forward adaptation and mitigation recommendations. The UN body is considered the world’s most authoritative scientific body on the matter.

Featured image: UN climate change/Flickr.

More on the topic: Meet Trump’s Anti-Climate Cabinet