BONN, Germany — Without the United States, fighting global warming just got harder. But climate negotiations are better off without Trump’s America, diplomats say.
The first-ever global climate conference missing the U.S. wrapped up Thursday with no clear signs that any nation was ready to fill the vacuum left by Washington.
Many diplomats lamented the absence of experienced American negotiators, which has handed China an unprecedented opportunity to seize the initiative. But the general response to the Trump administration’s no-show was widespread relief.
“The old U.S. would back up the EU on many issues. But you’ve seen how they now behave in other fora,” said one European negotiator at the United Nations climate talks in Bonn, Germany, where countries were preparing the ground for November’s COP30 summit in Brazil.
