Issue Deep Dive: US/Climate

The Donor Tracker uses the latest official DAC OECD data for our analyses. The latest full set of data available is 2023.

Policy Context

Climate change, including climate finance, does not receive bipartisan support: The US left the Paris Agreement in 2017 during US President Donald Trump's first administration. At the beginning of his administration in 2022, US President Joe Biden reentered the Paris Agreement, however, the US has since left the agreement in 2025.

USAID was previously a leading agency on international climate policy and programs: The dissolution of the department is expected to have a significant impact on international climate finance.

ODA Spending

How much ODA does the US allocate to climate projects?

The US ranked 3^rd among DAC donor countries in 2023 in terms of its spending on projects with some degree of climate focus.

The US allocated 13% of total bilateral allocable ODA to climate relative to its total ODA spending in 2023. This is a significant increased from 3% in 2021.

How is US's climate ODA changing?

During the first Trump administration, from 2017-2021, US funding for climate saw an annual decline of 12% on average, highlighting a steady decrease in commitment to climate measures during the former president’s tenure. In 2021, climate funding increased for the first time since 2016, growing 7% from US$933 million in 2020 to US$996 million in 2021.

Climate finance is expected to take a sharp hit during Donald Trump's second administration. The US has since withdrawn funding for the GCF.

How does the US allocate climate ODA?

In 2022, US$1.8 billion of the US’ ODA for climate change went to climate change mitigation. Meanwhile, US$3.7 billion targeted adaptation. US$1.4 billion of the US’ funding for actions against climate change was channeled toward projects tagged with both markers.