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The U.S. Is Ceding Climate Leadership to Authoritarian States
At COP30 in Belém, the U.S. is absent—and illiberal powers are seizing the stage. This TIME piece explores how petro-states and authoritarian regimes are stepping into the climate-leadership vacuum America left behind.
When the annual UN climate negotiations (COP30) opened in Belém, a new balance of power was visible. China arrived with 789 delegates; Nigeria with 749; Saudi Arabia with 127; the UAE with 94. For the first time in COP history, the official U.S. delegation was zero.
