Trump’s Climate Skepticism and South Asia

Harsa Kakar

Donald Trump’s second time as President of the United States has once again given rise to concerns over his administration’s climate skepticism. As the world already struggles with crises that include rising temperatures, unpredictable weather patterns, and resource scarcity, Trump’s “America First” policy stands to undermine global efforts to combat climate change. In this situation, South Asia is among the top regions that are most vulnerable to climate-induced disasters.

Trump’s withdrawal from global climate finance is a disaster for South Asia, a region already facing severe climate-induced challenges.

Prominent reasons behind this are the region’s geographic position and its transboundary environmental issues. The US’s withdrawal from global climate finance is a blow for countries of this region due to their reliance on climate finance to adapt to and mitigate the catastrophic impacts of climate change.

US’s Climate Skepticism and Hindered International Climate Efforts:

Trump in his last term in 2017 announced US’s withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. This agreement, on a popular notion, was aimed at controlling global temperature rise well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Trump’s decision back then revolved around the notion of freeing America of the economic burdens of developing nations including those of South Asia.

This decision was justified by White House as part of its “America first” policy. This policy might have proved beneficial for America but is no less than a disaster for climate change and its interconnected nature, the direct impact of which is on developing nations.

This decision came as a shock for the international community and it undermined their collective efforts organized to address the challenges of climate change. Being historically the largest greenhouse gas emitter, it is the moral responsibility of the US that it owes the world to lead climate action plans. The present leadership’s climate skepticism, however, shows the US’s withdrawal from this moral responsibility and is thus a threat to the international community’s efforts to combat this crisis.

South Asia, contributing the least to global emissions, suffers disproportionately from rising temperatures, floods, and resource scarcity.

In this regard, countries like China and that of the European Union have been playing a positive role but their efforts do not fill up the vacuum that the loss of US’s support has made. This may in turn encourage other major greenhouse-emitting countries like China and India to pull out of climate commitments.

South Asia and its Climate Vulnerabilities:

Having the least contribution to global greenhouse emissions, South Asia is positioned among the most vulnerable climate change regions confronted with rising sea levels, erratic monsoons, and extreme weather conditions. According to the World Bank’s report, Climate change can bring the region to a severe level of poverty with a reduction in its GDP up to 2% annually by 2050.

South Asian countries like Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan are evidences to this estimate. For example, Bangladesh faces the displacement of millions of its people each year due to flooding, India and Pakistan on the other hand are facing shortages of water and deadly heatwaves increasing every year.

Suspension of Climate Finance:

The international community in their effort to help these developing nations counter the effects of climate change. For this, they introduced the concept of global climate finance. Paris Climate Agreement and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) were key mechanisms for this and were a lifeline to South Asia’s efforts to transit to sustainable development in the wake of climate change.

For GCF, the US initially committed to the aid of $3 billion but contributed an amount of only $1 billion in President Obama’s regime. In the next term, the Trump administration further put a stop to contributions which resulted in the hindrance of projects running worldwide. In South Asia’s context, the withdrawal of US’s climate aid to the GCF is particularly catastrophic.

Without U.S. climate aid, South Asia faces economic decline, resource crises, and increased geopolitical tensions.

Among other South Asian countries, Nepal and Sri Linka used to rely on climate finance to develop early warning systems, management of excessive water, and strengthening of their coastal defense systems.

Without the aid, these countries are yet again exposed to climate-concerning vulnerabilities with reliance over none, which will further result in a spike in inequality and resource crisis. This pullout of climate aid from South Asia will have a ripple effect and will spread beyond the boundaries of national borders. Migration and scarcity of resources fueled by climate change will give rise to geopolitical tensions, leading to discomposure in the global political order.

Recommendations and Policy Alternatives:

The challenges brought in by President Trump’s climate skepticism need to be addressed through a multi-dimensional approach. First and foremost, South Asian countries need to prioritize their mutual regional cooperation to address climate challenges. In this regard, the role of organizations like the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) can be utilized in a rather productive way to foster climate-concerning collaborations. It can give rise to joint efforts in water resource sharing, renewable energy establishment, and disaster management between countries to overcome the impact of loss of international climate funding.

Secondly, developed nations with the exclusion of the US need to step up and increase their contributions to climate finance to fill the void left by the US. Particularly, the European Union need to play their role in this because they are among the largest of emitters and have enough resources to fight climate disasters and support adaptive and mitigative mechanisms in South Asia. They can also impose carbon taxing and green bonds as sources of alternative revenue streams to support climate financing in South Asia.

Moreover, the US needs to be held accountable by the international community and convinced to reaffirm its responsibility towards fighting climate action. It should be made clear that climate finance is not mere charity, it is an obligation and a necessary investment for global stability and security. US’s role in this can help climate-vulnerable regions such as South Asia overcome migration, mass displacement, crisis, and economic collapses. The US and other developed nations should help developing and underdeveloped nations transition to the usage of clean energy.

Lastly, South Asian nations need to realign their domestic policies with climate-sustainable goals. Their governments need to prioritize investments in renewable and clean energy, sustainable infrastructure, and empower climate-vulnerable areas of their countries. For this, they need to evolve towards the usage of technology and innovations such as Generative Artificial Intelligence for early disaster prediction and preparing climate-friendly models and software. This will enhance their preparedness for any kind of climate challenges in the future.

The international community must hold the U.S. accountable and push for stronger global commitments to climate action.

President Trump’s withdrawal from global climate financing is a big blow to the climate-affected regions around the world especially in South Asia. South Asia being economically weak and the least contributor to global emissions is exposed to climate vulnerabilities and the situation keeps worsening with each passing year.

This is also shocking for the international community which is playing a positive role in global climate collaborations. This situation can be overcome by regional cooperation within South Asia and other vulnerable regions, the international community stepping up its climate efforts, the US reaffirming its pledge to fight climate change, and South Asian nations prioritizing climate-friendly policies.

 The author is an Assistant Research Fellow at Balochistan Think Tank Network (BTTN), Quetta.