Some members of Congress are delaying making concrete plans for attending the COP30 climate summit in Brazil next month because of the government shutdown.
At least one delegation of House Democrats is moving full steam ahead and has announced programming for the conference, which will begin Nov. 10 in the city of Belém. But on the Senate side, a bipartisan delegation’s plans are in flux.
Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), who said earlier this month he would be leading a bipartisan group to Brazil alongside Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.), now says the trip may be shortened or canceled entirely should the shutdown continue.
“All those things are under consideration, and it changes moment by moment based on the shutdown,” Curtis told POLITICO’s E&E News.
And Coons’ office said that should the trip proceed, it is likely to encompass pre-COP meetings in São Paulo, rather than the actual conference.
Curtis’ planned participation in the meetings is noteworthy, given the few Republicans set to be involved in the global climate talks.
The Trump administration is not expected to send a delegation to the negotiations as it moves to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate accord. Also, the shutdown has closed the State Department offices that would typically participate.
Still, Curtis — who has long been vocal in the conservative climate space — said earlier this month that at least three congressional Republicans had expressed interest in joining him at COP. He declined to name them.
Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), long a fixture at annual COP conferences, said Monday that he intends to be at the talks in Belém regardless of where the government shutdown stands.
Concrete plans remain “up in the air,” his office said.
“Government shutdowns come and go — we only have one planet,” Whitehouse told E&E News.
House delegation
The Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Institute — a nonprofit affiliated with the House’s SEEC caucus — is pushing forward with plans to take between 15 and 20 Democratic House members to the Belém talks.
Among the members set to attend are Reps. Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.), Sean Casten (D-Ill.) and Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.).
Pearson Croney-Clark, director of external affairs at the SEEC Institute, said the group hopes to keep “U.S. leadership visible.”
“This COP comes at a moment of real peril for the global climate fight. Our delegation’s role is not to run foreign policy, but to keep lines of communication open, advance practical cooperation, and reinforce U.S. partnerships abroad,” Croney-Clark said in a statement.
The lawmakers will meet with foreign government officials and host “public-facing events showcasing U.S. climate leadership,” Croney-Clark said.
Last year, Republican Rep. August Pfluger of Texas led a delegation to the COP29 conference, where he and four other GOP members pushed a message of American energy dominance — and spoke highly of the use of fossil fuels. It remains unclear whether there will be any Republican House delegation this year.
This story also appears in Climatewire.
