Leaders of more than a dozen countries, including China’s President Xi Jinping and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, gathered virtually last week for high-level climate talks ahead of COP30, set to take place in Brazil later this year. US President Donald Trump was notably absent, with UN and Brazilian officials having left him off the invite list, according to three people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reports.

Seventeen heads of state and government participated in the call, among them Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. China’s prominent presence at the meeting "sends a clear signal of China’s support for multilateralism," one diplomat involved in the preparations said.

China is now the global green energy champion and has reportedly already passed peak emissions – years ahead of the deadline set up by the 2015 Paris Agreement. The US is currently the climate villain having blown through its carbon budget – the amount of emissions a country is allowed to emit during the transition to net zero carbon, agreed in Paris.

As bne IntelliNews reported, the lack of cooperation by the US is largely responsible for the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) prediction that both the 1.5C and 2C temperature rise above the pre-industrial benchmark goals have already both been missed and the planet is on course to see an increase of 2.7C-3.1C in the best case scenario.

Washington has become increasingly isolated on global climate and energy policy and reflected what observers describe as the Trump administration’s "diminished standing on the world stage regarding climate action." One Brazilian organiser commented, "By proceeding without the US, COP30 host Brazil is sending an unmistakable signal that it views current American participation as counterproductive, and is now actively seeking leadership from the EU, China, India and others to provide the leadership needed on climate plans and finance," Bloomberg reported.

Technically, the United States remains a party to the Paris Agreement and retains a seat at formal climate negotiations. Although Trump initiated the process to withdraw from the accord in January, the procedure will take at least a year to conclude. US delegates are still entitled to attend official UN climate meetings, including the mid-year talks in Bonn in June, but it remains unclear if they will participate.

Where US representatives have appeared on the multilateral stage, their pro-fossil-fuel messaging has drawn scorn. Rather than work to reduce emissions by decreasing the use of fossil fuels, Trump campaigned on the slogan “drill, baby, drill” and has promised to increase the production of fossil fuels as much as he can.

That runs directly counter to the message from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen who said at last week’s meeting that future economic growth would depend on "clean homegrown renewables."

President Xi reaffirmed China’s commitment to its climate targets and is now positioning China as the global leader in the Climate Crisis. He told participants, "Regardless of changes in the international landscape, China’s efforts to combat climate change will not slow down," according to China’s state-run CCTV.

Brazil, meanwhile, has sought to use its COP30 presidency to position itself as a bridge between developed and developing countries, advocating for stronger climate finance commitments and pushing for more ambitious emissions reductions. By excluding the Trump administration from preparatory talks, Brazil signalled its intent to build momentum with actors it views as committed to advancing global climate action.

Excluding the US from the COP30 summit may work out to the world’s advantage. The COP28 summit was a cop-out after US delegates worked hard to block any concrete progress towards fossil fuel reduction. As bne IntelliNews reported, there were more energy sector lobbyists at the event than NGO delegates. Trump continues to deny the Climate Crisis is a problem.