US Influence Expected at Brazil COP30 Climate Summit Amid Absence

The Trump administration has chosen not to send a high-level delegation to the COP30 climate summit in Brazil, signaling a continued estrangement from formal international climate negotiations while exerting pressure on other nations to weaken their climate commitments through trade threats. This approach, which links trade and energy policy closely, is seen as an innovation of the current administration and may open space for China to take a more prominent leadership role at the talks. Meanwhile, the play "Kyoto," premiering at Lincoln Center, dramatizes the complex and fraught history of international climate negotiations culminating in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, highlighting the obstructive role of oil lobbyist Don Pearlman and the contentious, often petty nature of the diplomatic process. This theatrical portrayal underscores the long, difficult struggle to secure global climate agreements and the powerful interests that have worked to undermine them. Additionally, in Europe, climate negotiations reveal deep divisions among member states about the ambition and approach to emissions reductions, with recent proposals diluted through compromises that allow for outsourcing emissions cuts via investments in developing countries. These developments illustrate the ongoing global challenges in balancing economic interests, political will, and environmental urgency in addressing climate change.