President Donald Trump has hit hard at climate funding with calls in his draft budget for the U.S. to withdraw from all U.N. climate change programs, including the Green Climate Fund and Climate Investment Funds.
For aid programs specifically addressing issues associated with climate change, a cloud may now be hanging over their future. With a 28 percent cut proposed for the United States Agency for International Development, climate programs could be lost in the first round of cuts.
Following Australia’s first budget under former Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Australia similarly saw climate change shifted off the agenda. Its impact on the aid budget saw climate change downplayed as a priority, with terms trickling into programs associated with natural disasters, food security and agriculture.