Gut USAID will have a monumental impact on the fight against climate change
This story originally Appears in Grist It is part of Climate desk collaboration.
As part of a broader effort to bypass Congress and unilaterally reduce government spending, the Donald Trump administration has been working on the US International Development Agency, an independent federal organization that provides humanitarian and economic development funds around the world; Or mostly shut down operations at USAID. . On his first day in office, President Trump issued an executive order suspending all USAID funds, and since then, the agency has sought to almost every fundraiser, from the Sudan soup kitchen to the global humanitarian group Mercy. A stop work order has been issued to
Since then, Elon Musk’s new government efficiency has shut down the agency’s website, shutting employees out of email accounts, and shutting down the agency’s Washington office.
“USAID is a criminal organization,” Musk posted on X on Sunday. “It’s time to die.” (The agency is codified by federal law, and the court’s challenge is likely to argue that masks’ actions themselves are illegal.)
Trump’s criticism of the sudden destruction of USAID has focused primarily on global public health projects that have long enjoyed bipartisan support, but the effort also states that it is fighting climate change. It threatens the intended billions of dollars. USAID’s climate-related funding helps low-income countries build renewable energy, adapt to worsening natural disasters, and save carbon sinks and sensitive ecosystems. During Joe Biden’s administration, USAID accelerated its climate-focused efforts. Ambitious new initiatives It was supposed to last until the end of the decade. As USAID contractors around the world prepare, their efforts now seem to be coming to an abrupt end Abandon important projects and fire staff.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio took over USAID as acting director, but said the sudden closure of masks was “not to remove foreign aid.” However, even if USAID finally resumes its activities to provide emergency humanitarian assistance such as hunger assistance and HIV prevention, authorities could still finish all its climate-related work under the Trump administration. is expensive. The result would be a blow to the Paris Climate Agreement, which is as important as Trump’s official withdrawal of the United States from the international agreement. By taking away the billions of dollars Congress is already committed to combating global warming, the US is poised to derail climate progress far beyond its borders.
“It’s incorporating torches into development programs that Americans paid for,” said Gillian Caldwell, USAID’s chief climate officer under former President Biden. “Many commitments under the Paris Agreement are terms of funding, which is extremely dangerous.”
The United States spends less than 1% of its federal budget on foreign aid, but the country is still the world’s largest aid provider. USAID is distributed between $40 billion and $60 billion a year. This is about a quarter of global humanitarian assistance. In recent years, the largest shares in its aid have travelled to Ukraine, Israel and Afghanistan, while the institution has distributed billions of dollars to Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. Hygiene and education initiatives.