In 2005, Robert Zoellick, who was then the U.S. secretary of state, called on China to become a “responsible stakeholder in the international system.” He argued the country had reached the stage where it could “help shore up the stability of the international system.” China, Zoellick argued, should play a much greater role, along with other nations, in sustaining and enhancing the institutions and policies that enabled the world system to function.

Today, though, it is the United States that is failing its role as a responsible stakeholder. “America First” means the rest of the world doesn’t matter. But as foreign policy expert Walter Russell Mead argues in the Wall Street Journal, this doesn’t mean that U.S. President Donald Trump wants to withdraw from the world, but “far from limiting America’s world role, Mr. Trump intends to place the country at the centre of international affairs.” 

But the goal isn’t to sustain, strengthen, or expand the international order in pursuit of a more stable and sustainable world. “His presidency is about the concentration of power for maximalist goals,” Mead writes, so as to maximize American power and use it to benefit the U.S. and its corporate and security interests. America First.

The use of tariffs to extort concessions from trading partners, the disdain for international institutions, the cessation of U.S. foreign aid, the lack of interest in supporting democracy and human rights, and the disregard of international rules and rulings are all examples. But when the history of this era is written, it will be the Trump administration’s reckless undermining of urgent global efforts to address climate change that will stand out as one of its greatest failings. 

The world continues to struggle with dangerous heatwaves, wildfires, floods, drought, and other climate-induced natural disasters, which are all existential threats to future life on this planet that can only be resolved by global resolve. But the Trump administration has gone out of its way—deliberately—to make the future risks and costs much worse. Trump loves coal, oil, and natural gas, but hates electric vehicles, solar panels, and wind power.

More than any other country, the U.S. today is consciously pursuing policies that will intensify the costs and effects of climate change while disregarding even the impacts of climate change at home, from devastating wildfires in California to communities in Florida where it is increasingly difficult to get mortgage insurance (and hence a mortgage) because of climate risks. 

A recent report in the Financial Times showed there are potential risks in the future if insurance companies halt providing mortgage insurance in regions vulnerable to disasters from climate change. A financial crisis could result as banks and other mortgage providers end up with large portfolios of unsellable real estate.

From almost his first day in office, Trump has been working to cancel or weaken domestic policies on climate while undermining international efforts. Almost as soon as he was sworn in as president, he withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Agreement on climate change and from commitments to the Green Climate Fund, which raised contributions from rich nations to help developing countries make climate-related investments. These actions were followed by two executive orders: Unleashing American Energy, and Declaring a National Energy Emergency. The aim of these orders is to expand the use of domestically sourced fossil fuels, and to weaken regulations designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 

Now, the Trump administration seeks to go further. Its proposed tax bill—the One Big Beautiful Bill Act—not only sought to end subsidies for electric vehicles, and solar and wind power, but it goes a radical step further. The bill proposes to increase taxes on any solar or wind power plant that comes into service after June 15, 2027. And if that was not enough, the Trump administration has now shut down its U.S. Global Change Research Program website that provided a national climate assessment report every four years. The scientists working on the next such report have all been fired.

Yet the next decade promises to be even more challenging, requiring nations everywhere to step up their efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and transition to green energy. Worldwide, the costs from climate-induced natural disasters are rising dramatically—last year’s wildfire in Jasper, Alta., alone caused $283-million of property damage—with the possibility of even greater costs from hurricanes, floods, rising sea levels, wildfires, drought, and damaging changes to ecosystems.

As average world temperatures continue to rise, parts of the planet will become uninhabitable, climate migration could increase, new health risks—including new pandemics—could emerge, agricultural yields could fall, heat-related deaths could rise, conflicts over water could rise, and many other challenges emerge—all of which make human survival and quality of life more difficult.

This November, Brazil will host the 30^th Conference of the Parties, the UN body that oversees global action on climate change. This will be a critical meeting since countries, including Canada, are failing to close the gap between their 2015 emission reduction targets and their 2030 deadlines, while the overall target of holding global temperature rise to no more than 1.5 C appears likely to be missed. Before the summit, countries must submit detailed plans on how their country will meet their 2030 targets. Missing will be any report from the U.S. even though it is among the world’s highest emitters. 

For America, failure to do its share in averting this climate threat is more a sign of decline than strength. As with its budget deficit, the substantiality of social security, or rampant inequality, the U.S. appears incapable of dealing with big issues politically. 

At some point, more deeply embedded American values will reassert themselves and the U.S. will again become a “responsible stakeholder.” But in the meantime, its failure to assume responsibility is no excuse for Canada or any other country to slack off. The climate challenge cannot be put off to tomorrow. It is an urgent challenge for today.

David Crane can be reached at crane@interlog.com.

The Hill Times

 

See all stories BY DAVID CRANE