The State Department is eliminating the Office of Global Change, which oversees international climate change negotiations for the United States.
Staff were told about the move verbally Thursday afternoon, according to three people who were granted anonymity to speak about the decision to avoid reprisal. The news thrust the office into chaos and raised questions among staff about when the office would be permanently shuttered.
“This will hamstring international climate cooperation at the worst possible time,” said one official, referring to the upcoming global climate talks called COP30.
It’s “just strategically fucking dumb when it comes to China,” that person added, saying the move would leave a leadership vacuum that China could fill.
A State Department spokesperson confirmed that the office is being eliminated to comply with President Donald Trump’s directives to cease participation in international agreements that don’t align with his priorities.
“Consequently, this office — which supported the efforts of previous Administrations to hobble the United States through participation in the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and other agreements purporting to limit [or] prevent climate change, is unnecessary,” the spokesperson said in an email.
The move comes on the heels of a planned reorganization of the State Department announced earlier this week by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The department said Tuesday that it had eliminated the Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, which worked alongside the Office of Global Change, particularly at annual talks focused on meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Trump has moved to exit the agreement but not the United Nations’ treaty underpinning it. It was unclear whether the U.S. would send a delegation to COP30 in Brazil in November.
Mark Matthews contributed reporting.
This story originally appeared in E&E News PM.
