Global Climate Action in the Trump Era

On 3 September 2025, Linda Yanti Sulistiawati, APCEL’s SRF lead a timely discussion on “Global Climate Action in the Trump Era” for the American Society of International Law (ASIL) Abroad.

There were 3 thought-provoking speakers during the Panel. The first speaker was Beatriz Garcia, an associate professor of Law from Sorbornne Abu Dhabi. She highlighted the preparation of COP 30 in Brazil, and how this will be a turning point of previous UNFCCC COPs. This COP 30 will be the 33 years anniversary of the UNFCC COPs, and 10 years since the Paris Agreement was adopted. However, she argued that the world’s GHG emission is on a standstill, and with the current geopolitical situation, COP 30 will be faced with many challenges. Have the COP organization been too ceremonial and extravagant and not presenting the expected results? Are they too weak to handle the GHG emission reduction challenges, too big to manage state parties expectancies, and too slow to lower the word’s temperature to 1,5 degree C? Only collaborated efforts can enhance and manage COP 30’s achievements.

Second speaker was Elizabeth Wu from Client Earth. She elaborated climate change litigation cases in national, and international fora, including the Asmania et al. v Holcim Case in Switzerland’s court, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Advisory Opinion (AO) on the obligation of states toward climate change, and explained that their importance for the climate movement momentum. Elizabeth also highlighted the climate capacity building activities in the region, including the judges training in Indonesia in 2024. She also introduced a co -publication of Earth on Board, Climate Governance Malaysia and ClientEarth on Guide on Climate Action for Boards in Southeast Asia.

Third speaker was Junice Yeo from Eco Business. She highlighted the role of media in climate change discourse. According to Eco Business, the roles of media in climate discourse is as interpreter (to translate science into regular day language), as agenda setter (to educate stakeholders to frame urgency, and prioritize actions), and as watch dog (to ensure accountability for governments, business, and finance). In Eco Business, their perspective is presented in two lens: the Global North lens which the stories are on climate policies and implementation such as carbon tax, supply chain due diligence, and investor demand for climate and ESG data, and the Global South lens which focused on adaptation, survival, and loss and damage. Junice stressed the need for greater visibility of Southeast Asia in climate narratives, as it remains one of the most vulnerable regions to climate impacts.

The QnA session was lively with many questions on whether ICJ’s Advisory Opinion will be discussed in COP 30, how COP negotiation in unequal power dynamics, the impacts of AI to climate action, epistemic climate injustice, the importance of communication in climate action, and monetization of carbon emission. In all, the panel covered the highlight of climate actions in this tremulous time and gave a thought provoking exchanges for future discussion and research.