The Trump administration has stopped U.S. scientists from participating in important UN climate change assessments, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters that it is part of its wider withdrawal from climate change mitigation efforts and multilateral cooperation. [emphasis, links added]
The stop order will affect staff of the U.S. Global Change Research Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), who interact with key working groups of the Intergovernmental Group on Climate Change (IPCC).
One of the sources said this means the U.S. will not be held next week in the IPCC plenary meeting in Hangzhou, China to plan the seventh global climate assessment.
The White House declined to comment, and the State Department did not respond to a request for comment.
“The power of the IPCC is that governments, businesses and global institutions can operate through common conclusions. It is crucial that the United States is completely removed from the process.”
Although American scientists will attend and continue to engage in climate research on IPCC use, the United States will feel the absence of the IPCC process.
The Hangzhou meeting, which is expected to be held from February 24 to 28, will make some key decisions to shape the results of the next climate assessment, including the role of carbon removal and capture technologies.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that it was unaware of the evacuation of U.S. participants.
The United States is a co-chairman, a working group on climate mitigation or a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The United States also pledged $1.5 million to support the IPCC, although the money has not been allocated by Congress.
With President Donald Trump's move again withdrew from the Paris climate agreement, withdrawing US global climate financing and strict international climate partnerships, withdrawing from climate scientists .
“This will be consistent with Trump's signal about climate action,” said Kathryn Bowen, a professor at the University of Melbourne and lead author of the IPCC's sixth assessment report published last year.
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