| By Akshat Rathi, John Ainger and Simone Iglesias Tomes have been written about US President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the country back from climate diplomacy. Now, when it comes to climate talks, he’s being shunned too. That turnabout was on full display when leaders of more than a dozen countries — including China’s President Xi Jinping — huddled in a virtual high-level meetup last week, ahead of COP30 climate talks in Brazil later this year. Seventeen participants at level of heads of state and government were on the call, including European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, but Trump was nowhere in sight. UN and Brazilian officials organizing the event left him off the invite list, according to three people familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified. Read More: World Leaders From China to EU Hold Climate Meeting Without US Trump has made no secret of his deep skepticism toward established climate science, and he is now pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement (for a second time). But as the US retreats, China is seizing the moment. In the meeting last week, Xi noted that a “certain major country” is keen on unilateralism and protectionism, leaving a “serious impact” on international rules and order, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.  Xi Jinping Photographer: Ton Molina/Bloomberg “This was Xi’s first international appearance on climate change since 2021, and it sends a clear signal of China’s support for multilateralism,” said Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute in Washington. Read More: Xi Commits China to Tougher Climate Targets as US Retreats The moment has made the US appear even more isolated compared with other rich nations on climate and energy policies. “Witnessing the US left out of this high-level climate dialogue is telling — it starkly reflects the current administration’s diminished standing on the world stage regarding climate action,” said Harjeet Singh, a long-time participant at COP meetings and founding director of Satat Sampada Climate Foundation. “By proceeding without the US, COP30 host Brazil is sending an unmistakable signal that it views current American participation as counterproductive, and is now actively seeking leadership from the EU, China, India and others to provide the leadership needed on climate plans and finance,” he said. US State Department officials didn’t respond to a request for comment. While last week’s meeting was tightly restricted, technically the US still has a seat at the table for climate talks, alongside every other country in the world that are all still parties to the Paris Agreement. Trump began a withdrawal process from the Paris accord in January but it will take at least a year for that to be finalized. This means it should be on the invite list to more official UN climate meetings, including mid-year talks in Bonn in June.  US President Donald Trump signed a number of executive orders as soon as he took office Jan. 20, including an order to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Photographer: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPA What they will say at those events — or even if they will attend — remains unclear. There were quiet fears expressed at this year’s Petersberg Climate Dialogue, the first big annual meeting for climate diplomats, that the US could become a disruptor at COP this November. The US was notably absent at the event held in Berlin. Where US delegates are showing up on the multilateral scene, their pro-fossil-fuel message isn’t being well received by countries convinced the energy transition is inevitable. Take last week’s energy summit hosted by the International Energy Agency and the UK government in London. A Trump official’s speech ripped into climate policies, saying they “harm human lives” — a view that directly opposes scientific consensus. The message “went down like a fart in a phone box,” as one UK energy figure colorfully put it to Politico. Leaders from other rich nations and regions used their speeches at the summit to deliver a full-throated backing for greener economies. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he wants to make Britain a “clean-energy super power.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at the same event that economic growth in future will depend on “clean homegrown renewables.” “Last week showed the US’s isolation at the global stage with its attempts to turn the tide on the energy transition,” said Linda Kalcher, executive director of Strategic Perspectives who has long advised European officials on climate diplomacy. On the call with leaders last week, Xi also said China was firmly on the net-zero path. “Regardless of changes in the international landscape, China’s efforts to combat climate change will not slow down,” Xi said, according to a report from state-run CCTV. “Its push for international cooperation will not weaken, and its commitment to building a community with a shared future for mankind will not cease.” --With assistance from Jennifer A Dlouhy | 
