Swiss News

Drei Mieter mussten gehen, weil der Eigentümer Eigenbedarf anmeldete. Angeblich braucht die Stieftochter Platz zum Malen. Doch statt der Verwandten wohnt an der Adresse in Zürich nun eine Fremde – und ein Phantom.

Yamide Dagnet, Senior Vice President, International at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). Credit: COP30

By Joyce Chimbi
NAIROBI, Jan 15 2026 (IPS)

President Donald Trump has escalated efforts to further distance the United States from international organizations and entities focused on climate, the environment, and energy. This strategy is in step with his administration’s established approach to undermine and redirect funds and international cooperation away from climate and clean energy programs.

But where some see a catastrophic escalation, other global experts, such as Yamide Dagnet, Senior Vice President, International at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), see first and foremost a continuing formalization of damaging positions already taken by the current administration.

In January 2025, President Trump initiated a second withdrawal from the Paris Agreement on climate change to limit global warming. Simultaneously, the U.S. administration began to significantly reduce funding for climate programs, withdrawing from international climate funds such as the Green Climate Fund, cancelling billions in domestic clean energy grants, halting climate research and, overall, prioritizing fossil fuels over climate initiatives.

While conceding that the moment at hand is indeed overwhelming, especially coming on the back of COP30, Dagnet told IPS that “the rest of the world must turn this challenge into an opportunity to break new ground in climate action, financing and international cooperation.”

“I have a stubborn yet grounded optimism. The path ahead will be challenging but achieving the set-out climate goals is far from impossible. This is far from a catastrophe. Only one country has withdrawn from the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); the rest of the world is still firmly on board.”

Regarding the exit from UNFCCC, Dagnet’s colleague Jake Schmidt from NRDC, pointed out in his blog that  the legal ramifications are such that it is unsettled constitutional law whether a president can unilaterally withdraw from international agreements that the Senate gave its advice and consent to join. The Constitution specifies the entry provisions, but it is silent on the exit provisions.

Dagnet also noted that while the withdrawal from the UNFCCC is unprecedented, making the United States the only nation outside the bedrock UN Climate Treaty, “the exit is not cast in stone; a future administration could bring the country back to the fold.”

Nevertheless, the United States will be back in the headlines come January 27, 2026, when the country will technically become a non-signatory to the Paris agreement and will not be part of international climate negotiations unless the withdrawal is reversed.

“The optimism I feel is also grounded in pragmatism. To borrow the words of author James Baldwin, ‘Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.’ The U.S. administration was not represented at COP30 and still the world pushed forward a comprehensive climate action agenda to move beyond pledges through accelerated collaboration between governments, businesses, civil society, and investors.”

In his 2025 inauguration speech, Trump called oil ‘liquid gold’ and vowed to ‘unleash’ America’s fossil fuels in the form of oil and gas. Dagnet says the die was already cast on the path forward for the United States and that the world should continue to rethink, re-strategize and reorganize, for those who are for climate action are more than those against.

Trump finds an assortment of 66 UN and non-UN entities, including those focused on climate and clean energy, that are not aligned with the United States’ national interests. They include the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which is the world’s most authoritative scientific body on climate change, UN water, UN Oceans and UN Energy.

Others are the International Union for Conservation of Nature, which is the global authority on technical and policy advice on conservation, and the UN Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing countries.

Non-UN organizations include the International Renewable Energy Agency, Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century, 24/7 Carbon-Free Energy Compact, Commission for Environmental Cooperation, Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, and Sustainable Development, and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

Concerns are rife that communities such as those in the informal settlements will be dangerously exposed to the vagaries of climate change in the face of looming budget cuts to support climate efforts. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS

There are widespread concerns that the withdrawal will have far-reaching negative consequences on financing and technical support for climate and clean energy. But Dagnet reminds us that  the United States did not pay its dues to the UN in 2025. The UN Chief has expressed regret over the country’s exit from UN entities and urged the Trump administration to settle what is owed to the international body, as the payments are mandatory. The United States owes the largest share, amounting to about 22 percent of the regular budget.

Similarly, before this withdrawal, the United States was already failing to fulfill many of its climate finance commitments.  While this new development, alongside past insufficient funding pledges, signals a major retreat from international climate action and support for developing nations, that challenge is  not insurmountable.

Climate financing trackers found that even during President Joe Biden’s administration, the United States’ international climate finance contributions were insufficient and fell far short of goals. Dagnet notes that while the country’s actions on multilateralism represent a setback, multilateralism is also evolving and will hopefully be capable of navigating uncharted territories.

She hails the broad recognition that climate change urgently and sustainably requires global cooperation and collaboration. She further stressed that international cooperation would expand the climate finance basket, as financial support for climate action can come not only from governments but also from a diverse array of non-state and public-private actors.

“This withdrawal is not the end of the road.”

Dagnet is one of nine members of the GHG (Greenhouse Gas) Protocol Steering Committee, which is the primary governing body providing direction and oversight to the GHG Protocol. The Protocol provides accounting standards and tools to help the corporate sector, countries and cities track progress towards climate goals.

The development of such standards is facilitated through a transparent multi-stakeholder governance process, drawing on expertise from business, finance, governments, academia, auditors and civil society in a milestone move and landmark partnership, she says.

The GHG Protocol is leading the global harmonization of greenhouse gas accounting with the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), as part of the COP30 Action Agenda, to enable comprehensive decarbonization action. This collaborative effort will strengthen the enabling conditions (in terms of policy, benchmarking, and governance) that are paramount to achieving sectoral breakthrough and will shape the journey towards the next global stocktake, or inventory taking, on progress towards climate goals in line with the Paris Agreement.

Subnational efforts also keep Dagnet pragmatically optimistic and solutions-focused. Indeed, she felt energized after attending the Resilient Cities Forum 2025 in London, a remarkable highlight as a major international platform where global leaders and experts converged to tackle urban resilience, emphasizing collaboration, best practices and practical innovation for sustainable, equitable cities.  She was inspired by the various and clear visions for a healthier planet.

“The resolve was stronger than ever,” says Dagnet.

“Importantly, we have locally designed tools, international frameworks and corporate standards to turn our vision towards a more prosperous, healthier and greener future into our lived reality. The worst we can do is to give up our imagination and ability to innovate.”

IPS UN Bureau Report

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

Aufgrund einer Verletzung aus dem Stuttgart-Spiel fällt Frankfurt-Stürmer Younes Ebnoutalib länger aus. Damit verschlimmern sich die Stürmer-Probleme bei der Eintracht.

Die SVP hat im Zürcher Gemeinderat einmal mehr gefordert, dass beim offenen Crack-Konsum endlich hart durchgegriffen wird. Das Parlament lehnte ihr Postulat am Mittwoch jedoch mit 98 zu 22 Stimmen ab. Die Stadt sei auf dem richtigen Weg, so die Mehrheit.

Nico Hischier glänzt beim zweiten Devils Sieg in Folge als doppelter Torschütze. Fiala trifft gegen Landsmann Schmid im Las-Vegas-Tor, verliert aber das Spiel.

Der Schweizer Captain von New Jersey ist im Heimspiel gegen Seattle Kraken der Mann des Spiels. In der Verlängerung erzielt Hischier den entscheidenden Treffer zum 3:2.

Erstmals muss die NASA einen Astronauten wegen medizinischer Probleme wieder zur Erde holen. Am Donnerstag soll er nach rund elf Stunden Flug im Meer vor der Küste Kaliforniens landen.

Der Tiktoker Scott Fensome lebt davon, verlorenes Gepäck zu öffnen. Der Engländer hat ein Geschäft daraus gemacht, Koffer zu ersteigern und den Inhalt weiterzuverkaufen. Nebst Kleidern und Kosmetikprodukten findet er Drogenrückstände, Bares und sogar Schlittschuhe.

Die Schweizer Wettbewerbshüter nimmt Preiserhöhungen des US-Softwareriesen unter die Lupe. Konkret geht es um das Produkt Microsoft 365. Der Preisüberwacher unterstützt die Untersuchung.

Am Mittwoch sollte Erfan Soltani hingerichtet werden. Der 26-jährige Ladenbesitzer war, zusammen mit Tausenden anderen, gegen das autoritäre Herrschaftssystem der Islamischen Republik auf die Strasse gegangen. Nun wurde seine Hinrichtung verschoben.

Im torlosen zweiten Halbfinal am Afrika-Cup setzt sich Marokko am Ende im Penaltyschiessen gegen Nigeria.

Mitchel Musso wurde als Oliver Oken in Hannah Montana weltberühmt. Jahre später sorgen Alkoholprobleme und Festnahmen für Schlagzeilen. Was ist aus dem einstigen Disney-Star geworden?

Die junge chinesische Automarke Zeekr ist seit letztem Sommer auch in der Schweiz erhältlich. Blick hat das Flaggschiff, den elektrischen 7X, in der Topausführung mit 646 PS und Allrad getestet.

Mit nur drei Punkten verlor Hajar Abdelkader in Nairobi ein ITF-Tennismatch. Jetzt wird bekannt: Sie soll mit gefälschten Angaben eine Wildcard erschlichen haben. Die Ägypterin ist unauffindbar, die ITF prüft nun ihre Vergaberichtlinien.

Ein riesiger Bär sucht sich für sein Winterlager ausgerechnet den Keller eines Wohnhauses in Altadena, Kalifornien, aus. Über einen Monat lang scheitern alle Versuche, das Tier zu vertreiben. Der Schaden am Heizungssystem ist enorm.

In Crans-Montana kam es in der Neujahrsnacht zu einem verheerenden Brand, der 40 Todesopfer forderte. Im Ticker halten wir dich über die neusten Entwicklungen auf dem Laufenden.

Un temps globalement stable continue de dominer les prévisions météorologiques en Algérie en cette fin de semaine. Après plusieurs journées marquées par une relative accalmie, […]

L’article Le temps en Algérie ce jeudi 15 janvier : temps stable, mais retour de la pluie dès cette date ! est apparu en premier sur .

Elon Musks KI-Firma xAI reagiert auf internationale Kritik: Der Chatbot Grok darf keine echten Personen mehr in Bikinis darstellen. Geoblocking und neue Massnahmen sollen Missbrauch verhindern, Ermittlungen laufen bereits.

Trump stürzt Maduro und entführt ihn in die USA – alles läuft am Schnürchen. Schon verhandelt er mit Venezuela über Öl, Handel und Sicherheit. Trump kann den alten Erzfeind heute nicht genug loben. In Grönland und Iran läufts dagegen nicht so glatt.

Im Dschungelcamp muss man sich auf einige Entbehrungen einstellen. Dankbar nehmen die Kandidaten also ihre zwei erlaubten «Luxusartikel» mit ins Camp. Viele davon sorgten über die Jahre für Kopfschütteln, Lacher und Kultmomente.