Trump plans to skip UN climate summit, officials say

President Trump plans to skip the upcoming United Nations Climate Action Summit, according to three senior administration officials that spoke with McClatchy.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler will lead the U.S. delegation at the Sept. 23 summit, McClatchy reported Wednesday. 

“Administrator Wheeler will be participating in part of the Summit to highlight America’s environmental progress,” an EPA spokesperson confirmed to The Hill.

The agency directed specifics on who is leading the delegation to the State Department.

A State Department spokesperson was not immediately available for comment, but a department official had told McClatchy that “the United States is considering the nature of our participation at the UN Secretary General’s Climate Summit.”

It is also unclear whether Trump’s new ambassador to the U.N., Kelly Craft, will participate.

One administration official told McClatchy the situation could change closer to the summit.

Whoever represents the U.S. will reportedly argue that the nation has made progress in reducing carbon dioxide emissions even though Trump withdrew the country from the Paris climate agreement and has taken countless steps toward deregulating the fossil fuel industry. 

Trump has long denied the human impact on climate change. 

The U.N. summit will be hosted by Secretary-General António Guterres. He is calling on all leaders to come up with plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with a goal of reducing emissions 45 percent over the next decade and reaching net zero emissions by 2050.