How climate change workers feel under Trump 2.0

Climate action has been a pillar of the Sustainable Development Goals since they launched in 2015, with the need for action generally uncontroversial and undisputed among most United Nations member states. That’s no longer the case. On Day 1 of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term, he ordered U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement — the international treaty, which aims to limit global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels — with promises to disincentivize the use of renewable energy, increase production of fossil fuels, and shift away from environmental justice. Those working in the climate space are now wary of what this means for their continued efforts in protecting the environment while others see the attack on climate as a chance to galvanize. “It is a worrying time because some countries are being ambivalent about how to deal with the climate problem when what you need is strong political will and action — driven from all countries and all sectors — to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement,” said Sandeep Sengupta, global policy lead on climate change at International Union for Conservation of Nature, who has been in the sector for over a decade. The 90-day review of all U.S. foreign aid, imposed by the Trump administration, has already seen over 130 contracts in this field canceled, with more expected to be treated the same way. Among them are a Chemonics’ program on scaling climate adaptation in developing countries; a Tetra Tech initiative on expanding low-carbon power solutions in Nigeria; and efforts by DAI Global in Honduras to build climate resilience. At the same time, the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement meant the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change lost 21% of its funding provided by the U.S. In 2023, the U.S. Agency for International Development was planning to raise $150 billion for climate work. In 2022, it mobilized $340 million in public and private finance for adaptation efforts. With that number expected to dwindle in line with Trump’s views on climate change, jobs in the sector will likely be affected and efforts reduced. Mercy Corps, which focuses some of its work on the environment has already announced its need to make staff cuts. It and several nongovernmental organizations declined to speak publicly on what it’s like to work on climate change right now. The general feeling in the climate space, said Mariam Kemple Hardy, global campaign director of research and advocacy organization Oil Change International, is that the obstacles to climate work have only gotten bigger in recent years. She blames that on the rise of the far right, particularly across the global north. “It's the attempted capture of democracy by billionaires, in the U.S. in particular, that's most challenging,” she said, describing the recent changes in the U.S. as “calculated chaos that's aiming to paralyze us.” Working amid what’s been growing pushback over the past few years can take a toll on those working to keep global warming to a minimum. Kemple Hardy warned of burnout among staff but highlighted the need to persevere given the scale of the problem. It’s important, said environmental consultant Ro Hill, for the climate community to continue to “be bearers of the truth that this problem can be fixed, that humanity is capable of change, that we are a very clever species, that we have enormous creativity and not give in to pessimism and nihilism.” “You just have to look across the planet and see how many good people are working on solutions, are working together, leading the change, are transforming their local area and be inspired by that,” she said. “We have to recognize and strengthen and support and not give in to despair.” After all, Trump may not be as significant in the longer-term climate fight as he currently seems, said Hill, who has worked on climate change for decades. Overpopulation, resource depletion, climate change, and global biodiversity loss are all “much bigger than just one president of the U.S.,” and instead it is the collective will of the people that matters more. “You just have to look across the planet and see how many good people are working on solutions, are working together, leading the change, transforming their local area, and be inspired by that. We have to recognize and strengthen and support and not give in to despair,” she added. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s 2022 survey on public attitudes toward climate change, over 70% of people in the 20 countries surveyed believed more is needed to be done to combat climate change. This has the power to ignite change, said Hill, citing the example of President Herbert Hoover who brought in huge tax cuts in 1929. “What happened then was famines in the U.S. and people demonstrating on the streets. As a result of that, Roosevelt was elected with the New Deal and a complete change of government,” Hill shared. “So the policies that Trump is bringing in, we know that they fail [and] good people in the states are resisting them.” “With any reaction, there's a counter-reaction and opportunity there,” said Kemple Hardy, “and in some ways, what we're up against is now so nakedly obvious that it enables us to be able to work with activists and fight.” During Trump’s first term, the movement, she said, “was able to do a lot in terms of building not just within the U.S. but globally” — and, as a result, the space is better prepared than it was in 2017. New funders also emerged as a counter to differing climate agendas, she said, and that energy could recur this time around. Already Bloomberg Philanthropies has said that it will make up UNFCCC’s funding shortfall. “The stakes are higher every single day, but I think what doesn't change is the belief in our collective power to be able to meet the moment, channeling that outrage into real, strategic, sustainable action,” Kemple Hardy said. “It could be a really exciting and powerful time.”