Email this article Position of Donald Trump in the Global Climate Change Agenda
Abstract
This study examines how the Trump administration repositioned the US in global climate governance, providing a multifaceted and theoretically informed evaluation of its geopolitical, institutional, and ideological effects. The analysis, which is framed by political realism, strategic environmentalism, adaptive federalism, and socio-technical transition theory, shows how Trump's climate policy, exemplified by his defunding of the Green Climate Fund and withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, represented a strategic disruption of multilateral climate cooperation. A framework based on emissions power parity and competitive decarbonization replaced normative commitments to historical emissions and equity, marking a redefinition of climate responsibility around sovereignty, economic nationalism, and "energy dominance" rather than a straightforward act of denial. The study offers a comprehensive analysis of the Trump administration's climate policy in seven thematic areas, drawing on a wealth of interdisciplinary literature: global governance, energy geopolitics, environmental justice, disinformation, legal-institutional frameworks, cultural narratives, and sustainable finance. It highlights paradoxical results as unexpected but revolutionary effects of Trump's unilateralism, including deregulation-driven innovation in clean technologies, the adaptability of subnational actors, and China's strategic ascent to the top of the global climate leadership. In order to demonstrate how nationalist policy logics can both undermine and rebalance the global climate regime, the study presents new conceptual tools such as "defensive climate investment," "innovation protectionism," and "geopolitical decarbonization." This paper concludes by arguing that the Trump administration's climate stance signaled a structural realignment in global climate diplomacy, highlighting the weaknesses of multilateral institutions and igniting forces of geopolitical reordering and decentralized innovation. The findings offer a novel narrative that transcends dichotomous assessments of climate denialism and offers a sophisticated perspective on how nationalist upheavals can alter the framework of international environmental governance. The study's conclusion offers policy-relevant insights for rethinking climate leadership in a time of competition, fragmentation, and the emergence of climate techno-nationalisms.
Citation: Nwokolo, S. C. (2026). Position of Donald Trump in the Global Climate Change Agenda. Trends in Renewable Energy, 12(1), 66-121. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.17737/tre.2026.12.1.00200
Keywords
Full Text:
FULL TEXT (PDF)References
Pavone, I. R. (2018). The Paris Agreement and the Trump administration: Road to nowhere? Journal of International Studies, 11(1), 34-49. doi:10.14254/2071-8330.2018/11-1/3
Urpelainen, J., & Van de Graaf, T. (2018). United States non-cooperation and the Paris agreement. Climate Policy, 18(7), 839-851. doi:10.1080/14693062.2017.1406843
Nwokolo, S. C. (2025). Climate hoax: The shift from scientific discourse to speculative rhetoric in climate change conversations. Next Research, 2(2). doi:10.1016/j.nexres.2025.100322
Healey, E., Hilal, H., Lerche, K. C., Ng, S. Y., Osberg, G., Øye, L. E., & Vijn, A. (2019). The divergent climate change approaches of the EU and the US: an analysis of contributing factors. Journal of Energy and Natural Resources Law, 37(4), 465-481. doi:10.1080/02646811.2019.1649086
Zhang, H. B., Dai, H. C., Lai, H. X., & Wang, W. T. (2017). U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement: Reasons, impacts, and China's response. Advances in Climate Change Research, 8(4), 220-225. doi:10.1016/j.accre.2017.09.002
Zhang, Y. X., Chao, Q. C., Zheng, Q. H., & Huang, L. (2017). The withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris Agreement and its impact on global climate change governance. Advances in Climate Change Research, 8(4), 213-219. doi:10.1016/j.accre.2017.08.005
Okonkwo, P. C., Nwokolo, S. C., Alarifi, S. S., Ekwok, S. E., Orji, R., Udo, S. O., Eldosouky, A. M., Barhoumi, E. M., Das, B. K., Gomez-Ortiz, D., Abdelrahman, K., & Akpan, A. E. (2025). Bio-inspired computational intelligence metaheuristic-based optimization and sensitivity analysis approach to determine techno-economic feasibility of hydrogen refueling stations for fuel cell vehicles. Scientific Reports, 15(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-025-97088-y
Nwokolo, S. C., Meyer, E. L., & Ahia, C. C. (2023). Credible Pathways to Catching Up with Climate Goals in Nigeria. Climate, 11(9). doi:10.3390/cli11090196
Beitelmal, W. H., Nwokolo, S. C., Meyer, E. L., & Ahia, C. C. (2024). Exploring Adaptation Strategies to Mitigate Climate Threats to Transportation Infrastructure in Nigeria: Lagos City, as a Case Study. Climate, 12(8). doi:10.3390/cli12080117
Ettinger, A., & Collins, A. M. (2025). Trumpism and the rejection of global climate governance. International Relations, 39(1), 76-100. doi:10.1177/00471178231153555
DeDominicis, B. E. (2021). American Exceptionalism in the Time of COVID-19: American National Identity-Based Populism Versus Cosmopolitan Global Integration Responses to Twenty-First-Century Global Crises. International Journal of Community Diversity, 21(1), 11-34. doi:10.18848/2327-0004/CGP/V21I01/11-34
DeDominicis, B. E. (2021). Global Interdependency and Strategic Neocorporatism: The Social Identity Dynamics of Progressive Social Movements Utilizing International Sustainable Development Regimes. International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses, 14(1), 107-128. doi:10.18848/1835-7156/CGP/V14I01/107-128
DeDominicis, B. E. (2019). Indo-Pacific grand strategy: Power politics and sustainable development. International Journal of Climate Change: Impacts and Responses, 11(2), 1-20. doi:10.18848/1835-7156/CGP/v11i02/1-20
Revesz, R. L. (2020). Destabilizing Environmental Regulation: The Trump Administration's Concerted Attack on Regulatory Analysis. Ecology Law Quarterly, 47(3), 887-956. doi:10.15779/Z38MG7FW6X
Abraham-Dukuma, M. (2019). Energy trilemma: Climate policy pluralism in the united states – domestic and international implications. Carbon and Climate Law Review, 13(1), 63-76. doi:10.21552/cclr/2019/1/8
Erickson, P., & Lazarus, M. (2018). Would constraining US fossil fuel production affect global CO2 emissions? A case study of US leasing policy. Climatic Change, 150(1-2), 29-42. doi:10.1007/s10584-018-2152-z
Ladd, A. E., & York, R. (2017). Hydraulic fracking, shale energy development, and climate inaction: A new landscape of risk in the trump era. Human Ecology Review, 23(1), 65-80. doi:10.22459/HER.23.01.2017.04
Sun, Y., Song, Y., Long, C., Qin, M., & Lobonţ, O. R. (2023). How to improve global environmental governance? Lessons learned from climate risk and climate policy uncertainty. Economic Analysis and Policy, 80, 1666-1676. doi:10.1016/j.eap.2023.11.010
Sun, X. (2019). USA, China and Global Leadership: Analysis in the Perspective of Conceptualisation. India Quarterly, 75(2), 190-205. doi:10.1177/0974928419841785
Zebang, X., & Yi, Z. (2024). Impact of United States energy and climate policies on China’s energy industry: Comparison of Biden and Trump period. Energy and Environment, 35(1), 228-243. doi:10.1177/0958305X221128298
Okonkwo, P. C., Nwokolo, S. C., Udo, S. O., Obiwulu, A. U., Onnoghen, U. N., Alarifi, S. S., Eldosouky, A. M., Ekwok, S. E., Andráš, P., & Akpan, A. E. (2025). Solar PV systems under weather extremes: Case studies, classification, vulnerability assessment, and adaptation pathways. Energy Reports, 13, 929-959. doi:10.1016/j.egyr.2024.12.067
Okonkwo, P. C., Nwokolo, S. C., Barhoumi, E. M., Mansir, I. B., Taura, U. H., Das, B. K., Radwan, A. B., Emori, W., Agyekum, E. B., & Kaaf, K. A. (2025). Technical and economic feasibility assessment for hybrid energy system electricity and hydrogen generation: A case study. Global Energy Interconnection, 8(1), 62-81. doi:10.1016/j.gloei.2025.01.001
Konisky, D. M., & Woods, N. D. (2018). Environmental federalism and the trump presidency: A preliminary assessment. Publius, 48(3), 345-371. doi:10.1093/publius/pjy009
MacNeil, R., & Paterson, M. (2020). Trump, US climate politics, and the evolving pattern of global climate governance. Global Change, Peace and Security, 32(1), 1-18. doi:10.1080/14781158.2020.1675620
Dijkstra, H., von Allwörden, L., Schuette, L. A., & Zaccaria, G. (2024). Donald Trump and the survival strategies of international organisations: when can institutional actors counter existential challenges? Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 37(2), 182-205. doi:10.1080/09557571.2022.2136566
Bowman, M., & Minas, S. (2019). Resilience through interlinkage: the green climate fund and climate finance governance. Climate Policy, 19(3), 342-353. doi:10.1080/14693062.2018.1513358
Arlota, C. (2020). 'Does the United States' withdrawal from the paris agreement on climate change pass the cost-benefit analysis test? University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, 41(4), 881-938.
Toni, A., & Feitosa Chaves, C. (2022). Bolsonaro's far-right populist environmental and climate diplomacy. Latin American Policy, 13(2), 464-483. doi:10.1111/lamp.12268
Jiahan, C. (2018). Recalibrating China-U.S. climate cooperation under the trump administration. China Quarterly of International Strategic Studies, 4(1), 77-93. doi:10.1142/S2377740018500033
Chatjuthamard, P., Mook Lee, S., Kim, Y. S., Jiraporn, P., & Potosky, D. (2024). Climate change and shareholder value: Evidence from textual analysis and Trump's unexpected victory. Journal of Business Research, 180. doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114728
Lamair, E. A. (2021). REGULATORY PATHWAYS FOR MINIMIZING THE CLIMATE IMPACTS OF NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION. Denver Law Review, 98(1), 129-155.
Diaz-Rainey, I., Gehricke, S. A., Roberts, H., & Zhang, R. (2021). Trump vs. Paris: The impact of climate policy on U.S. listed oil and gas firm returns and volatility. International Review of Financial Analysis, 76. doi:10.1016/j.irfa.2021.101746
Klaus, J. P., Nishi, H., Peabody, S. D., & Reichert, C. (2023). CSR activity in response to the Paris Agreement exit. European Financial Management, 29(3), 667-691. doi:10.1111/eufm.12368
Ribera, T., Spencer, T., & Levai, D. (2016). Implementing the Paris agreement in an uncertain world: Can the election of Donald trump reshuffle the climate diplomacy? Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment, 2016(3), 71-77. doi:10.3280/EFE2016-003006
McGuire, C. J., & Lynch, D. (2017). The Need for Environmental Justice Never Ends because Externalities Persist. Environmental Justice, 10(3), 68-71. doi:10.1089/env.2017.0013
McGuire, C. J. (2017). Uncommunicating Climate Change in the Trump Era: Influencing Public Policy by Attempting to Control the Message. Environmental Justice, 10(6), 209-212. doi:10.1089/env.2017.0029
Cheng, S., Hua, X., Peng, J., & Zhang, H. (2025). Climate policy shocks and crowdfunding success of renewable technology campaigns. European Financial Management, 31(2), 876-908. doi:10.1111/eufm.12523
Pandey, S. (2025). A Comparative Rhetorical Analysis of Trump and Biden's Climate Change Speeches: Framing Strategies in Politics. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, 55(2), 138-162. doi:10.1177/00472816231225932
Svozil, M., Gronow, A., & Ocelík, P. (2025). Climate Polarization on Czech Social Media After Trump’s Announcement to Withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement. Environmental Communication, 19(4), 749-765. doi:10.1080/17524032.2025.2456230
Resano, D. (2025). Transnational readings in the Trumpocene: Kim Stanley Robinson’s New York 2140 and Chris Beckett’s America City. Open Research Europe, 4. doi:10.12688/openreseurope.17107.2
Chen, J., Cheng, S., Song, M., & Nikic, V. (2018). Quo vadis? Major players in global coal consumption and emissions reduction. Transformations in Business and Economics, 17(1), 112-132.
Saad, A. (2018). Pathways of Harm: The Consequences of Trump's Withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement. Environmental Justice, 11(1), 47-51. doi:10.1089/env.2017.0033
Selby, J. (2019). The Trump presidency, climate change, and the prospect of a disorderly energy transition. Review of International Studies, 45(3), 471-490. doi:10.1017/S0260210518000165
Liu, L. J., Creutzig, F., Yao, Y. F., Wei, Y. M., & Liang, Q. M. (2020). Environmental and economic impacts of trade barriers: The example of China–US trade friction. Resource and Energy Economics, 59. doi:10.1016/j.reseneeco.2019.101144
Darian-Smith, E. (2023). Deadly global alliance: antidemocracy and anti-environmentalism. Third World Quarterly, 44(2), 284-299. doi:10.1080/01436597.2022.2144206
Charles, C. A. D., & Roberts, D. (2019). The Impact of the Trump Presidency on the Commonwealth Caribbean. Round Table, 108(3), 293-305. doi:10.1080/00358533.2019.1618607
Lavorio, A. (2021). Geography, Climate Change, National Security: The Case of the Evolving US Arctic Strategy. International Spectator, 56(1), 111-125. doi:10.1080/03932729.2020.1823695
Yu, H. (2018). The U.S. withdrawal from the paris agreement: Challenges and opportunities for China. China Quarterly of International Strategic Studies, 4(2), 281-300. doi:10.1142/S2377740018500100
Tzavella, F., Vgenopoulou, I., & Fradelos, E. C. (2021). Climate change as a social determinant of the quality of public health. Archives of Hellenic Medicine, 38(3), 401-409.
Rios, J. M. (2020). The Rollback of Environment Justice: Executive Orders, Rulemaking, and the Administrative Process under the Trump Administration. Environmental Justice, 13(3), 91-96. doi:10.1089/env.2020.0007
Ratuva, S. (2017). Anxiety and Diminished Hope: The Potential Impact of Trump’s Presidency on Security in the Pacific Islands Region. Round Table, 106(2), 165-173. doi:10.1080/00358533.2017.1296711
Gostin, L. O., & Friedman, E. A. (2017). Global health: A pivotal moment of opportunity and peril. Health Affairs, 36(1), 159-165. doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2016.1492
Prasad, A. (2019). Denying Anthropogenic Climate Change: Or, How Our Rejection of Objective Reality Gave Intellectual Legitimacy to Fake News. Sociological Forum, 34(S1), 1217-1234. doi:10.1111/socf.12546
Lazarus, R. J. (2023). THE SCALIA COURT: ENVIRONMENTAL LAW’S WRECKING CREW WITHIN THE SUPREME COURT. Harvard Environmental Law Review, 47(2), 407-471.
Trisolini, K. A. (2019). Efficiency gatekeepers, the social cost of carbon, and post-trump climate change regulation. Temple Law Review, 91(2), 261-319.
Olutola, O. (2020). U.S. withdrawal from the Paris Agreement: implications for climate finance in Africa. Africa Review, 12(1), 18-36. doi:10.1080/09744053.2019.1685334
Rose, A. (2018). Mining memories with Donald Trump in the Anthropocene. MFS - Modern Fiction Studies, 64(4), 701-722. doi:10.1353/mfs.2018.0050
Chai, Q., Fu, S., Xu, H., Li, W., & Zhong, Y. (2017). The gap report of global climate change mitigation, finance, and governance after the United States declared its withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. Chinese Journal of Population Resources and Environment, 15(3), 196-208. doi:10.1080/10042857.2017.1365450
Prieto, J., & Scott, C. A. (2022). Scientific diasporas and the advancement of science diplomacy: The InFEWS US-China program in the face of confrontational “America First” diplomacy. Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics, 7. doi:10.3389/frma.2022.944333
Agius, C. (2021). Issues in Australian Foreign Policy July to December 2020. Australian Journal of Politics and History, 67(2), 331-348. doi:10.1111/ajph.12768
Nai, A. (2020). The trump paradox: How cues from a disliked source foster resistance to persuasion. Politics and Governance, 8(1), 122-132. doi:10.17645/pag.v8i1.2428
Zawadzki, S. J., Bouman, T., Steg, L., Bojarskich, V., & Druen, P. B. (2020). Translating climate beliefs into action in a changing political landscape. Climatic Change, 161(1), 21-42. doi:10.1007/s10584-020-02739-w
Paliewicz, N. S., & McHendry, G. F. (2020). Post-dialectics and fascistic argumentation in the global climate change debate. Argumentation and Advocacy, 56(3), 137-154. doi:10.1080/10511431.2020.1790781
Nost, E., Gehrke, G., Poudrier, G., Lemelin, A., Beck, M., Wylie, S., Allan, D., Aizman, A., Alder, C., Amoss, C., Anjur-Dietrich, M., Bergman, A., Brackett, R., Braun, S., Breseman, K., Britt, M., Byrne, E., Card, J., Cha, R., Chadha, J., Currie, M., Derry, J., Gobeil, J., Gygi, B., Jao, P., Johns, S., Klionsky, A., Knutson, S., Kulik, K., Lave, R., Murphy, M., Nguyen, K., Ouellette, K., Paz, A., Poirier, L., Price, M., Rinberg, T., Rubinow, S., Schell, J., Scott, L., Shapiro, N., Sinnott-Armstrong, M., Tirrell, C., Ultee, L., Upfal, J., Wedrosky, T., Wizon, A., & Wylie, J. (2021). Visualizing changes to US federal environmental agency websites, 2016-2020. PLoS ONE, 16(2). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0246450
Kupoluyi, A. K. (2017). Trump presidency: an opportunity for Africa to look inward? African Renaissance, 14(1-2), 67-77. doi:10.31920/2516-5305/2017/v14n1_2a4
Gagnon, F., & Cloutier-Roy, C. (2020). Ephemeral or durable? Donald Trump’s impact on Canada–US issues in the Great Lakes heartland and northeast borderlands. Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, 26(2), 182-196. doi:10.1080/11926422.2019.1696848
Benton Heath, J. (2020). The new national security challenge to the economic order. Yale Law Journal, 129(4), 1020-1098.
Faizi, S. (2017). U.S. Intransigence and the Climate Change Reality. Capitalism, Nature, Socialism, 28(4), 43-47. doi:10.1080/10455752.2017.1390775
Kemp, L. (2017). Limiting the climate impact of the Trump administration comment. Palgrave Communications, 3(1). doi:10.1057/s41599-017-0003-6
Sunstein, C. R. (2022). ARBITRARINESS REVIEW AND CLIMATE CHANGE. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 170(5), 991-1047.
Jordaan, S. M. (2018). Resilience for power systems amid a changing climate. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 74(2), 95-101. doi:10.1080/00963402.2018.1436810
Baiardi, D., & Morana, C. (2021). Climate change awareness: Empirical evidence for the European Union. Energy Economics, 96. doi:10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105163
Fernandez, R. M. (2018). Conflicting energy policy priorities in EU energy governance. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 8(3), 239-248. doi:10.1007/s13412-018-0499-0
Ziv, R., Graham, A., & Cao, L. (2019). America First? Trump, Crime, and Justice Internationally. Victims and Offenders, 14(8), 997-1009. doi:10.1080/15564886.2019.1671291
Nwokolo, S. C., Obiwulu, A. U., & Ogbulezie, J. C. (2023). Machine learning and analytical model hybridization to assess the impact of climate change on solar PV energy production. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 130. doi:10.1016/j.pce.2023.103389
Nwokolo, S. C., Ogbulezie, J. C., & Ushie, O. J. (2023). A multi-model ensemble-based CMIP6 assessment of future solar radiation and PV potential under various climate warming scenarios. Optik, 285. doi:10.1016/j.ijleo.2023.170956
Agbor, M. E., Udo, S. O., Ewona, I. O., Nwokolo, S. C., Ogbulezie, J. C., & Amadi, S. O. (2023). Potential impacts of climate change on global solar radiation and PV output using the CMIP6 model in West Africa. Cleaner Engineering and Technology, 13. doi:10.1016/j.clet.2023.100630
Samuel Chukwujindu, N. (2017). A comprehensive review of empirical models for estimating global solar radiation in Africa. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 78, 955-995. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2017.04.101
Nwokolo, S. C., Obiwulu, A. U., Okonkwo, P. C., Orji, R., Alsenani, T. R., Mansir, I. B., & Orji, C. (2025). Machine learning and physics-based model hybridization to assess the impact of climate change on single- and dual-axis tracking solar-concentrated photovoltaic systems. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, 138. doi:10.1016/j.pce.2025.103881
Chukwujindu, N. S. (2024). From Policy to Practice: Evaluating the Role of PrivateSector Champions Like Elon Musk in Shaping Trump's 2.0 Climate Agenda. Trends in Renewable Energy, 11(1), 122-154. doi:10.17737/tre.2025.11.1.00190
Mineta, N., & Whitman, C. T. (2017). Review&Forecast: Strong leadership needed to navigate changing seas ahead. Sea Technology, 58(1), 28-29.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17737/tre.2026.12.1.00200
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2026 Samuel Chukwujindu Nwokolo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.Copyright @2014-2026 Trends in Renewable Energy (ISSN: 2376-2136, online ISSN: 2376-2144)