The U.N’s climate change conference wrapped up this weekend in Madrid with no significant progress on carbon trading markets or adaptation financing for countries already suffering climate-related damage. Visiting Fellow Bill Burke-White, who was in Madrid, speaks to the disconnect between activists and state party negotiators, the lack of political willingness to make bold new commitments, and what might happen at next year’s conference in Glasgow.
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- What is the US doing on climate change?
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William Burke-White
Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology, Project on International Order and Strategy
Adrianna Pita
Office of Communications
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[On progress toward global climate goals] The world is on track for a 3-degree increase of temperature, which is way too high.
[On the U.S. intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement] It's damaging the international effort because the US is a big and important player. It's also important to note that there's a tremendous amount of climate action and activity in the US at the sub-national level by states and cities. The focus is particularly on states and cities that account for 68 percent of GDP, 65 percent of the population and more than 50 percent of emissions in the US. There's still some room for collaboration on the subnational level, and plenty of opportunities for think tanks and others to collaborate.
