This story is originally appeared on Grain grain And part of Climate desk Collaboration.
Congress and unilateral cuts, as a comprehensive effort to ignite government expenses, Donald Trump's administration has discontinued all operations in international development for the US agency, or USAID, which is an independent federal body that is worldwide Humanitarian aid and economic development funds. , On its first day at the office, President Trump issued an executive order stopping all USAID funding, and the agency later issued a stop-work order to almost all funding recipients from soup kitchen to global human group in Sudan to Global Human Group Mercy Corps. .
Since then, Elon Musk's new government efficiency new department has closed the agency website, excluded employees from its email accounts, and the agency's Washington office has been closed.
“USAID is a criminal organization,” Musk posted on X on Sunday. “Time to die.” (The agency has been codified in the federal law, and the challenges of the court are likely to argue that Musk's actions are illegal.)
While the criticism of Trump's sudden demolition of USAID has focused on a large scale global public health projects, who have long enjoyed bipartisan support, this effort also threatened the danger of billions of dollars to combat climate change with this effort Is. Funding related to the climate of USAID helps low -income countries to create renewable energy and make natural disasters to deteriorate, as well as protects carbon sinks and sensitive ecosystems. Joe Biden's administration, USAID intensified its climate-focused efforts as part of A. Ambitious new initiative It was going to last until the end of the decade. This effort now seems to have come to a sudden end as USAID contractors worldwide. Leave important projects and close employees,
State Secretary Marco Rubio, who has taken over USAID as acting director, has said that the sudden shutdown of Musk is “not about getting rid of foreign aid.” But even though the USAID eventually resumes operations to provide emergency humanitarian aids such as famine support and HIV prevention, the agency is still likely to end all its climate-related tasks under the Trump administration. The result will be a shock to the landmark Paris Climate Agreement, which is important as the formal withdrawal of America from the International Treaty of Trump. The US is already committed to derail climate progress beyond its borders by the Congress which has already committed to the fight against global warming by bringing back billions of dollars.
“It is taking a torch for development programs, which American people paid,” said Gilian Caldwell, who served as the Chief Climate Officer of USAID under former President Biden. “Many commitments under the Paris Agreement are funding-cosmic, and this is very high.”
The United States spends less than 1 percent of its federal budget on foreign aid, but it still makes the country the biggest support giver in the world. The USAID distributes between $ 40 billion per year and $ 60 billion – almost all global humanitarian aid. While in recent years, the largest shares of that aid have moved to Ukraine, Israel and Afghanistan, the agency also distributes billions of dollars to Latin America, Sub-Sahara Africa and South East Asia, where it mainly food security, health And helps in health and promoting and helps to promote health and health and health and health. Cleanliness, and education efforts.