Democrats Bring Climate Message to COP31 Summit Boycotted by Trump

Riding high after a commanding performance in the US midterm elections, a group of 18 Democratic lawmakers arrived on Saturday at the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, a gathering that President Donald Trump has refused to engage with. Their mission: to show the world that the United States remains committed to fighting global warming despite the White House's stance.

The visit came days after the party recaptured control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in a landslide result that was celebrated by climate advocates. The lawmakers joined the annual United Nations climate conference hoping to rebuild confidence among partners who have grown wary of Washington's shifting policies.

"Many of our allies and partners across the world think the United States has not been predictable or dependable. So we have a lot of trust to earn back," Florida Representative Kathy Castor told AFP, after the group posed for photographs in front of a large COP31 sign inside the sprawling expo centre hosting the talks. "We have so much work to do. And yes, I hope the United States gets back on track with urgent climate action."

The American election has been a prominent subject of conversation in Antalya, where delegates have voiced hope that the new Congress might revive clean energy programs and that a president favoring climate action could take office in two years. "What happened in the US is remarkable, and a much needed shift that we all needed, not only from a climate perspective, but overall," Harjeet Singh, strategic advisor to the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, told AFP.

Since returning to the presidency in January 2025, Trump has undone a number of his predecessors' clean energy measures, championed oil drilling, withdrawn the United States from the Paris Agreement and kept the country out of the UN's climate negotiations. Arizona lawmaker Yassamin Ansari delivered a sharp rebuke, telling AFP: "It is absolutely shameful that the Trump administration operates this way, that this is an administration that is filled with climate deniers, that is beholden to big oil in the United States."

Ansari and fellow delegation members addressed a panel devoted to the midterm results, drawing an audience so large it spilled out of the "America Is All In" pavilion. The lawmakers stressed that even as Trump has turned away from clean energy, American states and local authorities have pressed ahead with renewables and other climate-friendly initiatives. Earlier this week, a contingent of US mayors and governors appeared at COP31, joined by former vice president Al Gore and former climate envoy and secretary of state John Kerry.

"Despite the setbacks that we're experiencing through this Trump administration, climate action is alive in America," California Congressman Raul Ruiz told the panel.

The Republican party's stinging defeat last week was driven in large part by public anger over climbing energy prices and Trump's costly war with Iran. Democrats have pledged to put their new House and Senate majorities to work investigating the administration's climate record and advancing clean energy legislation.

Trump, however, retains two more years in office and has promised to use his veto pen. Ansari pushed back on that threat, arguing: "At a time where Americans from all political backgrounds want to see their energy bills reduced, this administration will be very hard pressed to veto legislation that will bring down costs for the American people."