At the first board meeting of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) since President Donald Trump cancelled $4 billion in US pledges to it, countries sparred this week over who should plug the gap.
Board members representing Germany and Sweden encouraged governments outside the GCF’s existing contributor base – such as high-income developing nations – to open their wallets. But oil-rich Saudi Arabia, which would be included in that group, pushed back vehemently, calling the suggestion “unacceptable”.
The United States did not turn up to the meeting, leaving an empty seat among the board’s 24 members. But the White House’s decision to rescind its GCF contributions, promised under previous Democrat administrations, cast a long shadow over the discussions this week in Songdo, South Korea.
Threat to ambition
The loss of US funding puts at risk the GCF’s plans to significantly increase the amount of money it provides to programmes that help developing countries adopt clean energy and adapt to climate change.
The GCF’s latest fundraising round for 2024 to 2027 raked in an ambitious $13.6 billion – up from $10 billion in the previous four-year period – after then US Vice President Kamala Harris announced a $3-billion pledge at COP28 in Dubai. Another $1 billion was still due from a promise made under the administration of Barack Obama.
But, with the US money now off the table under an administration that has taken an axe to development aid and climate finance, the GCF expects to deploy just over $10 billion through 2027. That puts it on a path to only marginally exceed a “low” or “status quo” scenario as outlined in its strategy documents.
Ahead of this week’s board meeting, GCF Executive Director Mafalda Duarte had urged world leaders not to step back from channelling “critical” climate finance to the developing world through the UN’s biggest climate fund.
Wealthy developing states urged to chip in
Board members reiterated her calls for additional contributions, but disagreed on where the extra money should come from.
Germany’s representative named “high-income, non-traditional donors” as a potential source of funding, alongside “non-sovereign contributors” and the private sector. While the board member did not single out specific countries, German diplomats have previously called on China and the Gulf States to pay towards the new UN climate finance goal agreed at COP29 last November.
Lula’s government pushes for new oil drilling in the Amazon – where it will host COP30
In South Korea, the Swedish delegate encouraged existing donors to put more money into the GCF and urged those not currently contributing to do so “according to their capacity”.
“This fund has already expanded its donor base over the years,” he highlighted.
Ten countries outside the industrialised group of nations defined under the UN climate convention in 1992 have made voluntary contributions to the GCF since its creation, including Chile, Colombia, Indonesia, Mexico and Israel. The bulk of the funding still comes from developed countries, with Germany, Japan, the UK and France the biggest providers.
Saudi hits back
In response, Saudi Arabia’s representative fiercely opposed suggestions that developing countries should be asked to put more money into the GCF’s coffers.
“We’re finding it troubling that we see a few board members […] attempting to apply pressure on developing countries to make up the contributions of one of the largest historical emitters and the largest economy in the world,” he said, referring to the United States.
Japan disregarded widespread calls to raise its 2035 emissions goal
The Saudi official then called on colleagues from developed countries to apply the same pressure on their partners across the Atlantic.
Like many other petrostates, Saudi Arabia’s wealth has grown significantly since it was classed as a developing country in 1992. Its majority state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco made $121 billion in profit in 2023.
The GCF discussion ended without a conclusion on how to make up the funding shortfall.
New projects and ‘regional presence’
In other business, the GCF board approved investments of $686.8 million for 11 projects spanning 42 countries at this week’s meeting, including its first ones in Togo and Serbia, bringing its total funding to $16.6 billion – three-quarters of it provided as grants.
“During these challenging times, GCF is showing how countries are able to reaffirm their individual and collective commitment to accelerating support to climate-vulnerable communities,” GCF board co-chair Leif Holmberg, also from Sweden, said in a statement.
The GCF expects to approve up to $3 billion in new projects in 2025 and aims to grow its total portfolio to at least $50 billion by 2030. But a spokesperson for the fund reiterated that “if pledges are not fully realized, our ability to support the climate ambitions of developing countries will be constrained”.
Aside from the US, Italy and Hungary have not yet confirmed pledges made in the latest fundraising round, while France and Canada have provided only partial confirmation of theirs. But the GCF’s administrative unit told board members that it “does not foresee any issues” with non-US money flowing into the fund.
The GCF board also decided this week to establish “a regional presence” to bring it closer to the countries it serves and to increase the climate impact of its projects, it said. The details are still to be worked out.
“If climate action is local action – which it is – then the Green Climate Fund needs to be local too,” said GCF chief Duarte. “I’m pleased that the Fund has taken a historic step in establishing a presence in key regions, bringing our world-class specialists closer to those who will benefit most from their support.”
The post After US retreat, countries clash over who should make up Green Climate Fund shortfall appeared first on Climate Home News.
After US retreat, countries clash over who should make up Green Climate Fund shortfall
Climate Change
DeBriefed 15 August 2025: Raging wildfires; Xi’s priorities; Factchecking the Trump climate report
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.
This week
Blazing heat hits Europe
FANNING THE FLAMES: Wildfires “fanned by a heatwave and strong winds” caused havoc across southern Europe, Reuters reported. It added: “Fire has affected nearly 440,000 hectares (1,700 square miles) in the eurozone so far in 2025, double the average for the same period of the year since 2006.” Extreme heat is “breaking temperature records across Europe”, the Guardian said, with several countries reporting readings of around 40C.
HUMAN TOLL: At least three people have died in the wildfires erupting across Spain, Turkey and Albania, France24 said, adding that the fires have “displaced thousands in Greece and Albania”. Le Monde reported that a child in Italy “died of heatstroke”, while thousands were evacuated from Spain and firefighters “battled three large wildfires” in Portugal.
UK WILDFIRE RISK: The UK saw temperatures as high as 33.4C this week as England “entered its fourth heatwave”, BBC News said. The high heat is causing “nationally significant” water shortfalls, it added, “hitting farms, damaging wildlife and increasing wildfires”. The Daily Mirror noted that these conditions “could last until mid-autumn”. Scientists warn the UK faces possible “firewaves” due to climate change, BBC News also reported.
Around the world
- GRID PRESSURES: Iraq suffered a “near nationwide blackout” as elevated power demand – due to extreme temperatures of around 50C – triggered a transmission line failure, Bloomberg reported.
- ‘DIRE’ DOWN UNDER: The Australian government is keeping a climate risk assessment that contains “dire” implications for the continent “under wraps”, the Australian Financial Review said.
- EXTREME RAINFALL: Mexico City is “seeing one of its heaviest rainy seasons in years”, the Washington Post said. Downpours in the Japanese island of Kyushu “caused flooding and mudslides”, according to Politico. In Kashmir, flash floods killed 56 and left “scores missing”, the Associated Press said.
- SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION: China and Brazil agreed to “ensure the success” of COP30 in a recent phone call, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.
- PLASTIC ‘DEADLOCK’: Talks on a plastic pollution treaty have failed again at a summit in Geneva, according to the Guardian, with countries “deadlocked” on whether it should include “curbs on production and toxic chemicals”.
15
The number of times by which the most ethnically-diverse areas in England are more likely to experience extreme heat than its “least diverse” areas, according to new analysis by Carbon Brief.
Latest climate research
- As many as 13 minerals critical for low-carbon energy may face shortages under 2C pathways | Nature Climate Change
- A “scoping review” examined the impact of climate change on poor sexual and reproductive health and rights in sub-Saharan Africa | PLOS One
- A UK university cut the carbon footprint of its weekly canteen menu by 31% “without students noticing” | Nature Food
(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)
Captured
Factchecking Trump’s climate report
A report commissioned by the US government to justify rolling back climate regulations contains “at least 100 false or misleading statements”, according to a Carbon Brief factcheck involving dozens of leading climate scientists. The report, compiled in two months by five hand-picked researchers, inaccurately claims that “CO2-induced warming might be less damaging economically than commonly believed” and misleadingly states that “excessively aggressive [emissions] mitigation policies could prove more detrimental than beneficial”80
Spotlight
Does Xi Jinping care about climate change?
This week, Carbon Brief unpacks new research on Chinese president Xi Jinping’s policy priorities.
On this day in 2005, Xi Jinping, a local official in eastern China, made an unplanned speech when touring a small village – a rare occurrence in China’s highly-choreographed political culture.
In it, he observed that “lucid waters and lush mountains are mountains of silver and gold” – that is, the environment cannot be sacrificed for the sake of growth.
(The full text of the speech is not available, although Xi discussed the concept in a brief newspaper column – see below – a few days later.)
In a time where most government officials were laser-focused on delivering economic growth, this message was highly unusual.
Forward-thinking on environment
As a local official in the early 2000s, Xi endorsed the concept of “green GDP”, which integrates the value of natural resources and the environment into GDP calculations.
He also penned a regular newspaper column, 22 of which discussed environmental protection – although “climate change” was never mentioned.
This focus carried over to China’s national agenda when Xi became president.
New research from the Asia Society Policy Institute tracked policies in which Xi is reported by state media to have “personally” taken action.
It found that environmental protection is one of six topics in which he is often said to have directly steered policymaking.
Such policies include guidelines to build a “Beautiful China”, the creation of an environmental protection inspection team and the “three-north shelterbelt” afforestation programme.
“It’s important to know what Xi’s priorities are because the top leader wields outsized influence in the Chinese political system,” Neil Thomas, Asia Society Policy Institute fellow and report co-author, told Carbon Brief.
Local policymakers are “more likely” to invest resources in addressing policies they know have Xi’s attention, to increase their chances for promotion, he added.
What about climate and energy?
However, the research noted, climate and energy policies have not been publicised as bearing Xi’s personal touch.
“I think Xi prioritises environmental protection more than climate change because reducing pollution is an issue of social stability,” Thomas said, noting that “smoggy skies and polluted rivers” were more visible and more likely to trigger civil society pushback than gradual temperature increases.
The paper also said topics might not be linked to Xi personally when they are “too technical” or “politically sensitive”.
For example, Xi’s landmark decision for China to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 is widely reported as having only been made after climate modelling – facilitated by former climate envoy Xie Zhenhua – showed that this goal was achievable.
Prior to this, Xi had never spoken publicly about carbon neutrality.
Prof Alex Wang, a University of California, Los Angeles professor of law not involved in the research, noted that emphasising Xi’s personal attention may signal “top” political priorities, but not necessarily Xi’s “personal interests”.
By not emphasising climate, he said, Xi may be trying to avoid “pushing the system to overprioritise climate to the exclusion of the other priorities”.
There are other ways to know where climate ranks on the policy agenda, Thomas noted:
“Climate watchers should look at what Xi says, what Xi does and what policies Xi authorises in the name of the ‘central committee’. Is Xi talking more about climate? Is Xi establishing institutions and convening meetings that focus on climate? Is climate becoming a more prominent theme in top-level documents?”
Watch, read, listen
TRUMP EFFECT: The Columbia Energy Exchange podcast examined how pressure from US tariffs could affect India’s clean energy transition.
NAMIBIAN ‘DESTRUCTION’: The National Observer investigated the failure to address “human rights abuses and environmental destruction” claims against a Canadian oil company in Namibia.
‘RED AI’: The Network for the Digital Economy and the Environment studied the state of current research on “Red AI”, or the “negative environmental implications of AI”.
Coming up
- 17 August: Bolivian general elections
- 18-29 August: Preparatory talks on the entry into force of the “High Seas Treaty”, New York
- 18-22 August: Y20 Summit, Johannesburg
- 21 August: Advancing the “Africa clean air programme” through Africa-Asia collaboration, Yokohama
Pick of the jobs
- Lancaster Environment Centre, senior research associate: JUST Centre | Salary: £39,355-£45,413. Location: Lancaster, UK
- Environmental Justice Foundation, communications and media officer, Francophone Africa | Salary: XOF600,000-XOF800,000. Location: Dakar, Senegal
- Politico, energy & climate editor | Salary: Unknown. Location: Brussels, Belgium
- EnviroCatalysts, meteorologist | Salary: Unknown. Location: New Delhi, India
DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s weekly DeBriefed email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.
The post DeBriefed 15 August 2025: Raging wildfires; Xi’s priorities; Factchecking the Trump climate report appeared first on Carbon Brief.
DeBriefed 15 August 2025: Raging wildfires; Xi’s priorities; Factchecking the Trump climate report
Climate Change
New York Already Denied Permits to These Gas Pipelines. Under Trump, They Could Get Greenlit
The specter of a “gas-for-wind” compromise between the governor and the White House is drawing the ire of residents as a deadline looms.
Hundreds of New Yorkers rallied against new natural gas pipelines in their state as a deadline loomed for the public to comment on a revived proposal to expand the gas pipeline that supplies downstate New York.
New York Already Denied Permits to These Gas Pipelines. Under Trump, They Could Get Greenlit
A “critical assessment” report commissioned by the Trump administration to justify a rollback of US climate regulations contains at least 100 false or misleading statements, according to a Carbon Brief factcheck involving dozens of leading climate scientists.
The report – “A critical review of impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on the US climate” – was published by the US Department of Energy (DoE) on 23 July, just days before the government laid out plans to revoke a scientific finding used as the legal basis for emissions regulation.
The executive summary of the controversial report inaccurately claims that “CO2-induced warming might be less damaging economically than commonly believed”.
It also states misleadingly that “excessively aggressive [emissions] mitigation policies could prove more detrimental than beneficial”.
Compiled in just two months by five “independent” researchers hand-selected by the climate-sceptic US secretary of energy Chris Wright, the document has sparked fierce criticism from climate scientists, who have pointed to factual errors, misrepresentation of research, messy citations and the cherry-picking of data.
Experts have also noted the authors’ track record of promoting views at odds with the mainstream understanding of climate science.
Wright’s department claims the report – which is currently open to public comment as part of a 30-day review – underwent an “internal peer-review period amongst [the] DoE’s scientific research community”.
The report is designed to provide a scientific underpinning to one flank of the Trump administration’s plans to rescind a finding that serves as the legal prerequisite for federal emissions regulation. (The second flank is about legal authority to regulate emissions.)
The “endangerment finding” – enacted by the Obama administration in 2009 – states that six greenhouse gases are contributing to the net-negative impacts of climate change and, thus, put the public in danger.
In a press release on 29 July, the US Environmental Protection Agency said “updated studies and information” set out in the new report would “challenge the assumptions” of the 2009 finding.
Carbon Brief asked a wide range of climate scientists, including those cited in the “critical review” itself, to factcheck the report’s various claims and statements.
The post Factcheck: Trump’s climate report includes more than 100 false or misleading claims appeared first on Carbon Brief.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-trumps-climate-report-includes-more-than-100-false-or-misleading-claims/
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