USAID helps farmers in Villa de San Francisco, Francisco Morazán, Honduras, adopt climate-smart technologies. Credit: Andre Ancheta for USAID In Bangladesh, some 500,000 people escaped harm from a powerful cyclone last year with the help of disaster warning and protection systems funded by the United States. In sub-Saharan Africa, meanwhile, some farmers saw 25 percent increases in crop yields despite multi-year drought, in part due to U.S. humanitarian aid. Over the past four years, India has procured record levels of renewable energy through competitive bidding, community-led conservation groups have preserved rainforests in Vietnam and watershed restoration projects are tackling water scarcity in Honduras—all with the help of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Under President Joe Biden’s administration, addressing climate change became an integral part of the mission of USAID—an agency created 63 years ago to advance the national interest by helping foreign countries in need. The agency is the world’s largest bilateral humanitarian and development aid agency, with a $27.6 billion budget and programs in 100 countries. In fiscal year 2024, USAID and U.S. Department of State funding on climate programs totaled $679 million, up 75 percent compared to the end of the first Trump administration. And USAID estimates that its investments have mobilized far more public and private climate finance—more than $30 billion—from 2021 through 2023. But the future of USAID—and its goal of reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by 6 billion metric tons by 2030, the equivalent of erasing a full year of U.S. domestic emissions—is in jeopardy. President-elect Donald Trump has promised a retreat both from climate action and international engagement, and unlike in his first term, he has a team in place ready to fulfill that aim. Newsletters We deliver climate news to your inbox like nobody else. Every day or once a week, […]
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