Trump administration halts US scientists' participation in key UN climate change assessments

The Trump administration has ceased the involvement of U.S. scientists in significant U.N. climate change assessments, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

This move is part of a broader strategy to withdraw from global climate change mitigation efforts and reduce multilateral cooperation, Caliber.Az reports per US media.

The suspension affects personnel from the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, who are engaged with a major working group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

As a result, the U.S. will not be participating in an important IPCC plenary meeting next week in Hangzhou, China, which is scheduled to plan the seventh global climate assessment.

Sources indicate that the White House has declined to comment, while the State Department has not responded to requests for clarification.

Delta Merner, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, expressed concern, stating, "The power of the IPCC lies in the fact that governments, businesses, and global institutions can operate with shared conclusions. The U.S. being completely removed from that process is worrying."

Despite the absence of U.S. government representatives, American scientists will still attend and continue their contributions to the climate research used by the IPCC. However, their absence from the broader IPCC process is expected to have an impact.

The Hangzhou meeting, set for February 24-28, is anticipated to make critical decisions that will shape the next global climate assessment, including the role of carbon removal and capture technology.

China's foreign ministry said on February 20 it was unaware of the U.S. withdrawal from the IPCC.

The U.S. had previously co-chaired a working group on climate mitigation, which focuses on strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, alongside Malaysia. The U.S. had also pledged approximately $1.5 million to support the IPCC, although that funding had not yet been approved by Congress.

The U.S. departure from the IPCC has not come as a surprise to many climate scientists, given President Donald Trump's earlier decisions to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, reduce global climate finance, and scale back international climate partnerships.

Kathryn Bowen, a professor at Melbourne University and a lead author on the IPCC's sixth assessment report published last year, said, "This aligns with Trump's stance on climate action." She also noted that the loss of federal support for climate science comes at a time when funding for the IPCC process has been shrinking globally. "High-income countries are critical for supporting colleagues from the Global South," Bowen added.

By Aghakazim Guliyev