US delegations of Congress-elects to participate in UN climate summit despite Trump's withdrawal

An American congressional delegation will travel to Turkey for the annual UN climate summit, a Democratic lawmaker said Wednesday, a day after his party's landslide midterm victory. The banner at a press conference at Pacific Pre-COP31 Summit in Nadi, Fiji on October 8.

(AFP)The United States is not taking part in the negotiations after President Donald Trump withdrew the country from the Paris agreement for a second time upon returning to office. But Representative Sean Casten of Illinois said the 19-member delegation would nevertheless play an "important diplomatic function" at COP31 which runs from November 9 to 20 in Antalya.

"We will not, of course, be in the majority at that point, but we will be received with the understanding of what just happened," Casten told a press call. He said it was important not to be naive, given the United States' failure to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and its two exits from the Paris agreement under Trump.

"But I think also there's a real value in us being able to convey to the world, number one, that America has spoken, and number two, that so many of the challenges we face are the same," he said, citing climate refugees, financial volatility caused by climate change, and the need to decarbonize economies, especially given the Iran war.

The delegation is being led by the Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. It said members would meet policymakers, civil society groups and business leaders to "explore opportunities for renewed US engagement on climate, energy, and economic policy." US state and local leaders are also set to travel to Turkey under the "America is All In" coalition.

Domestically, Trump has threatened to use his veto power, raising questions about how much Democrats can achieve on the climate front even with control of both the House and Senate. But Casten said Trump's tariffs, which make solar panels and electric vehicles more expensive, and the Iran war, which is spiking gasoline prices, are "the two biggest drivers of inflation right now." That, together with the Republican Party's history of backing some environmental policies, including emissions trading and protecting the ozone layer, made him “cautiously optimistic that the margins will open up some opportunities.”