Speaking at the “COP29: Navigating Climate and Business in 2025” event at SGX Centre, Fu says delegates at the United Nations’ annual climate summit used to look forward to meetings between the US’s Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua.
Future climate talks will be difficult without the US’s participation, but Minister for Sustainability and the Environment Grace Fu expects that middle powers, provinces in various countries and even industry bodies will step up to lead in the coming years.
“[The] absence of the Trump administration will be missed,” says Fu on a panel organised by the Singapore Business Federation on March 17. “But more importantly, I think the world order — that chaos or rewriting of world order — will also probably present itself in the COP process. So, that will be difficult going forward.”
