Image Creator: Carbon Brief Tom Prater

The United States just fired another shot in the climate wars — and the reverberations are being felt worldwide.

A new Department of Energy climate report, commissioned under Donald Trump, was meant to justify rolling back environmental rules. Instead, it’s been torn to shreds by scientists. A Carbon Brief fact-check flagged more than 100 false or misleading claims across its 140 pages, ranging from cherry-picked data to outright misrepresentation of peer-reviewed science.

“This is not a scientific assessment. It’s a political document,” one researcher told The Guardian. Others say it deliberately twists their work, stripping out context to sow doubt about climate risks already overwhelming U.S. communities.

The strategy is clear: undermine the 2009 “endangerment finding,” the legal backbone that allows the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gases. If dismantled, America’s federal climate policies could collapse overnight.

Why the rest of the world should care

The U.S. remains the world’s second-largest emitter and one of the biggest sources of climate finance. If Washington walks away from science-based policy, the ripple effects will be brutal:

• Global climate finance dries up: Developing nations already struggling with adaptation could see promised funds vanish.
• Trade tensions spike: Europe and Asia are preparing carbon border tariffs; a U.S. retreat risks a green trade war.
• Moral authority erodes: When America downplays the crisis, other nations find cover to delay action.

At the very moment the International Court of Justice has affirmed that climate finance is a legal obligation, the Trump administration is moving to strip away its own responsibility. For frontline nations — from Pacific islands to Asian rice belts — the signal is devastating.

The bigger picture

This isn’t just about America’s climate denial machine. It’s about the fragility of global climate governance. If one of the world’s richest nations can ignore science and shrug off responsibility, the Paris Agreement itself risks becoming a hollow pact.

Yet there’s another way to see it: the louder the denial, the clearer the contrast. Europe, China, and even middle-income nations are pushing ahead on renewables, carbon markets, and green finance. With the U.S. retreating, others may seize the leadership vacuum — and the jobs, technology, and capital that come with it.

Bottom line: The Trump climate report may play well in U.S. politics, but the rest of the world isn’t fooled. As climate disasters intensify, denial isn’t just dangerous — it’s economically reckless. And if America abdicates, others will shape the future with or without America.