Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva meet in Beijing in May 2025. (Image source: Wikimedia Commons.)
US government may be abandoning the global climate fight, but new leaders are filling the void – including China
Trump’s efforts haven’t sunk global efforts to fight climate change – instead, new leaders are stepping up and working together, even within the US.
When President Donald Trump announced in early 2025 that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement for the second time, it triggered fears that the move would undermine global efforts to slow climate change and diminish America’s global influence.
A big question hung in the air: Who would step into the leadership vacuum?
I study the dynamics of global environmental politics, including through the United Nations climate negotiations. While it’s still too early to fully assess the long-term impact of the United States’ political shift when it comes to global cooperation on climate change, there are signs that a new set of leaders is rising to the occasion.