A rocky road to the UN climate change conference

With just two weeks until the UN Climate Change Conference in Brazil, a new UN report shows countries are falling far short of their Paris Agreement pledges. Rising energy demand, inflation, and political divisions are adding even more pressure to the talks — especially as U.S. climate leadership wanes under President Donald Trump. Sara Schonhardt from POLITICO’s E&E News unpacks what’s at stake heading into COP30. Plus, a bipartisan coalition of 13 governors is urging Congress to pass comprehensive legislation to ease permitting rules. Sara Schonhardt is an international climate reporter for E&E News. Josh Siegel is an energy reporter for POLITICO and the host of POLITICO Energy. Nirmal Mulaikal is the co-host and producer of POLITICO Energy. Alex Keeney is a senior audio producer at POLITICO. Ben Lefebvre is the deputy energy editor at POLITICO. Matt Daily is the energy editor for POLITICO. For more news on energy and the environment, subscribe to Power Switch, our free evening newsletter: https://www.politico.com/power-switch And for even deeper coverage and analysis, read our Morning Energy newsletter by subscribing to POLITICO Pro: https://subscriber.politicopro.com/newsletter-archive/morning-energy Our theme music is by Pran Bandi.