The United States will not send any high-level federal officials to the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, in Brazil — which officially starts next week — but dozens of governors, mayors, and other local leaders say they will attend to represent U.S. interests at the subnational level.
The decision comes as President Donald Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, moves forward with plans to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement for a second time. The administration notified the United Nations of its intent to leave, and the withdrawal will take legal effect on Jan. 27, 2026.
Still, U.S. officials emphasized during a press briefing on Friday that this does not mean the country is disengaging. Leaders from across the U.S. would be “showing up in force to both the Local Leaders Forum in Rio, as well as the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Belém,” said Gina McCarthy, former Environmental Protection Agency administrator and co-chair of the America Is All In coalition.