US President Donald Trump’s anti-climate agenda risks derailing the commitment that all countries made at COP29 in November to triple annual climate finance by 2035. The US contributed about US$11 billion ($14.14 billion) to climate finance in 2024, among the largest from individual countries, but that was dominated by costly loans rather than grants.
Hong Kong’s financial secretary slammed the US’s pullback from environment-friendly policies, while drawing attention to the city’s goals to boost global green finance.
“The US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the overwhelming policy shift back to fossil fuels is disappointing,” Paul Chan said at the Hong Kong Green Finance Association’s annual forum on Monday, part of Hong Kong Green Week. “It weakens collective commitment” and complicates the path for climate finance flows from richer nations to emerging economies, he added.
