House Democrats cancel COP30 trip amid shutdown scramble

E&E DAILY | Democrats are scrapping a long-planned delegation to the COP30 climate talks in Brazil, as House lawmakers prepare to return to Washington in coming days to vote on reopening the federal government.

The annual climate negotiations, which kicked off in Belém on Monday, typically draws a bipartisan group of congressional lawmakers.

But individual lawmakers began canceling their trips in recent weeks as the shutdown made it logistically difficult to travel. Now, the sole remaining delegation — led by the nonprofit arm of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) — officially canceled its trip Monday, in anticipation of House votes to end the federal shutdown.

"It’s disappointing that members of the House of Representatives will no longer be able to travel to COP30 due to the ongoing shutdown dynamics,” said Max Frankel, the SEEC Institute's executive director, in a statement. The institute is the nonprofit arm of the House coalition.

“SEEC Institute was prepared to facilitate a robust congressional program in Belém, including bilateral and multilateral meetings with international counterparts and engagements with a wide range of stakeholders on issues from climate finance to oceans to agriculture and beyond,” he added.

The coalition had planned to bring between 15 and 20 House Democrats to the climate talks to engage in meetings with international lawmakers and private sector companies. Among those planning to attend were Reps. Sean Casten of Illinois, Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico and Yassamin Ansari of Arizona.

According to promotional material, the SEEC delegation intended to “keep the U.S. engaged in the global climate effort” even as President Donald Trump has declined to send an official delegation to the conference.

The SEEC Institute will still have a presence at the conference and plans to continue some programming even as lawmakers remain in Washington, Frankel said.

The delegation’s cancellation could potentially mean that COP30 will be devoid of any federal elected presence. A bipartisan Senate delegation to the conference was also scrapped last week due to the government shutdown.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, said last week that he would still try to make it to the conference, although the shutdown was posing logistic difficulties. Whitehouse’s office did not respond to request for comment Monday.

This story also appears in Climatewire.