United States Awarded Fossil of the Day – in Absentia

Today at COP30, the United States receives the Fossil of the Day – not for an action taken, but for its decision to walk away.

No nation has contributed more to the climate crisis than the United States – yet, for the first time in nearly 30 years, the US has abandoned a COP entirely, stepping outside the Paris Agreement and removing itself from the only global forum designed to address the harm it helped create. The message could not be clearer: obligations ignored, responsibility avoided. The world’s largest historical emitter has chosen to sit out the process built to deliver climate justice. 

By failing to show up, the US has attempted to grant itself immunity and infallibility – no scrutiny, no pressure, no accountability. And the consequences are immediate: other countries are already using its absence as an excuse to weaken ambition and slow delivery.

There is, however, a grim irony: negotiations may move faster without the US blocking progress on climate justice. Yet justice cannot be built on absence. The world needs presence, commitment, and contribution – not a strategic retreat.

The verdict

The United States receives today’s Fossil of the Day for walking away at precisely the moment global cooperation required leadership, responsibility, and courage.

In Belém – the COP of Truth – an empty chair says everything.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors

1. Photos and video of today’s award ceremony: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jXTO3LtUVlEqgRfEji0qXCVQCVd7HRCB?usp=drive_link
2. Fossil of the Day happens every day at 6pm in the COP30 Blue Zone, Zone D, Action Area 1. (This is near the delegation offices and before you get to Meeting Room 1.)
3. The Fossil of the Day awards (which now include Ray of the Day and the Solidarity for Justice Award) were first presented at the climate talks in 1999, in Bonn, initiated by the German NGO Forum. During United Nations climate change negotiations (www.unfccc.int), members of the Climate Action Network (CAN), vote for countries judged to have done their ‘best’ to block progress in the negotiations in the last days of talks.

Contact: Attila Kulcsar, CAN International, akulcsar@climatenetwork.org, +44 7472 124872 (WhatsApp)