ISTANBUL, Jan 9 (Bernama-Anadolu) — In a blow to efforts to fight climate change, the US has withdrawn from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), a key UN-backed mechanism for financing climate projects in developing countries, with the Treasury Department branding the initiative “radical,” Anadolu Ajansi reported.
“Our nation will no longer fund radical organisations like the GCF whose goals run contrary to the fact that affordable, reliable energy is fundamental to economic growth and poverty reduction,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the US social media company X on Thursday.
He said Washington is ending its participation with immediate effect.
In a separate statement, the department said it had formally notified the GCF of the decision and would relinquish the US seat on the fund’s board.
It said the move aligns with the Trump administration’s broader withdrawal from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, under which the fund was established.
The department said continued participation in the fund no longer fits the administration’s priorities, which focus on expanding energy sources it calls “affordable and reliable.”
The administration has long claimed renewable energy is not affordable or reliable, despite renewable energy prices becoming more and more competitive with fossil fuels as well as its increased reliability.
Several US states have said that Washington cutting off renewable energy projects threatens their energy supplies and will only drive costs higher.
The GCF, headquartered in South Korea, was created to help channel climate finance to developing nations. It had no immediate public reaction to the US decision.
US President Donald Trump has long criticised international climate initiatives, calling climate change a “hoax” and opposing subsidies for renewable energy.
Since returning to office a year ago, he has again pulled the US out of the Paris Agreement, rolled back climate-related executive orders, and declared an energy emergency aimed at accelerating oil, gas, and coal projects while restricting wind development.
Scientists say the US pulling out of efforts to fight climate change will make catastrophic changes in earth’s climate, endangering billions of lives, much more inevitable.
— BERNAMA-ANADOLU