--- title: Ban Ki-moon: The U.N. Climate Report Shows Trump’s Failings description: "President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement was politically short-sighted, and scientifically wrong" canonical: https://time.com/5416793/climate-change-ban-ki-moon-trump/ author: Ban Ki-moon article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-08T11:12:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:09.167Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The U.N.'s Climate Report Shows How Badly Wrong Leaders Like Trump Have Got Climate Change og:description: Former U.N. Secretary General Ban-ki Moon writes on the damning IPCC report og:url: https://time.com/5416793/climate-change-ban-ki-moon-trump/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e651840d0ebf06d/69893bf44ee262b54e313095/gettyimages-1029131756.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5568 og:image:height: 3132 og:image:alt: FRANCE-UN-EMVIRONMENT-PROTEST og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The U.N.'s Climate Report Shows How Badly Wrong Leaders Like Trump Have Got Climate Change twitter:description: Former U.N. Secretary General Ban-ki Moon writes on the damning IPCC report twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e651840d0ebf06d/69893bf44ee262b54e313095/gettyimages-1029131756.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The U.N.'s Climate Report Exposes How Badly Wrong Leaders Like Trump Have Got Climate Change > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ## Video: TIME Ideas: Science Is Too Important To Be Silenced In The Trump Era [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Ideas: Science Is Too Important To Be Silenced In The Trump Era](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4dGVBI9w.m3u8) (2:17)  _Published 2018-10-10. TIME spoke with Dr. Jonathan Foley, an environmental scientist and outspoken defender of science in the age of Trump._  by [Ban Ki-moon](https://time.com/author/ban-ki-moon/)  ## Ban Ki-moon Oct 8, 2018 11:12 AM UTC  People hold banners as they take part in a march on September 8, 2018 in Marseille, southern France, as part of a global day of action "Rise For Climate." People hold banners as they take part in a march on September 8, 2018 in Marseille, southern France, as part of a global day of action "Rise For Climate."Christophe Simon – AFP/Getty Images  by [Ban Ki-moon](https://time.com/author/ban-ki-moon/)  ## Ban Ki-moon Oct 8, 2018 11:12 AM UTC Climate change is a global challenge demanding global solutions. No one country can face it alone, no matter that nation’s political, economic or military might. From the richest to the poorest, we all share one planet, and we all have a stake in its survival. This is why the latest report from the United Nations’[ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC](http://www.ipcc.ch/index.htm)) makes for such alarming reading and demands immediate, concerted action from everyone — particularly our leaders. The report sets out starkly that, without a rapid change of course, global temperatures will rise above the 1.5°C level that scientists view as the bare minimum to avert catastrophic climate change, including rising sea waters, desertification and droughts. This change will not happen, however, unless leaders in politics and business put their money where their mouth is and finally deliver the billions of dollars needed to make the transition to a green economy. Nearly a decade ago, leaders of developed countries committed at the 2009 Copenhagen climate conference to mobilizing $100 billion per year of public and private finance by 2020 for climate action in developing countries. The pledge was reiterated in Paris, but funds committed to date are nowhere near the target; according to global NGO Oxfam, climate finance in 2015-16 amounted to $48 billion per year, but only $9 billion went to least-developed countries. According to NASA, global temperatures [are already 0.9 degrees Celsius higher](https://climate.nasa.gov/vital-signs/global-temperature/) than at the end of the nineteenth century. The past few months alone have shown us what this means in terms of extreme weather events: wildfires from California to the Arctic Circle, hurricanes battering the Eastern Seaboard of the United States and unprecedented drought in Australia. Three years ago, as Secretary-General of the United Nations, I was proud to have helped secure the Paris Agreement on Climate Change. All 193 U.N. member states signed up to this deal — a rare feat in international diplomacy — which acknowledges the existential threat climate change poses to us all. Today, I continue to believe that the Paris Agreement offers the best hope of delivering a robust and just transition to a zero-carbon, climate-resilient economy that protects lives and livelihoods, especially for the most vulnerable of the world’s population. But I am alarmed and disappointed at the inadequate pace of progress, especially by the major polluting economies. The IPCC report makes it clear that the time for talking is over — this is literally a matter of life and death. To give just one example, Yale scientists predict that the difference between a 1.5 degree and 2 degree rise in global temperatures could cut corn yields in parts of Africa by half. President Donald Trump’s decision in June 2017 [to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement](http://time.com/5171805/paris-agreement-united-states-david-banks/) was politically short-sighted, and scientifically wrong. I am afraid he will be judged as standing on the wrong side of the history. I have been heartened over the past year by the determination of countless Americans to reaffirm their commitment to the Paris Agreement and to keep taking climate change seriously, from state governors and city mayors to business leaders, labour unions, faith groups and ordinary citizens. However, this groundswell of civic responsibility should not let President Trump off the hook — or indeed any other leader tempted to shirk or diminish their responsibilities. They need to be held to account in international fora, by national electorates and in the wider court of public opinion. This means developing comprehensive national adaptation and implementation strategies, but also — especially for the rich, industrialized nations — providing the necessary climate finance to help least-developed countries. The private sector also needs to step up and play its part. Industries and investors need to be bold and far-sighted, for example by cutting all links to fossil fuels and supporting a carbon price. If they act now, they can seize new opportunities from innovative technologies, rather than risk onerous costs as climate change makes previous business models unsustainable. The International Labour Organisation predicts that [the green economy will create 24 million jobs by 2030](https://www.ilo.org/weso-greening/), and that those at the vanguard of climate action are best placed to benefit from this economic transformation. Without responsible governance, it will not be possible to deliver a just transition to a new, sustainable and green economy. We need to invest in new technology and new training, and we need to ensure access to clean, reliable energy for all to lift even more people out of poverty. Important steps are already being taken. On Oct. 16, Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands and a dozen global leaders, including United Kingdom Prime Minister Theresa May, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, will launch a Global Commission on Adaptation to lift even more people out of poverty. I will be honored to chair this Commission together with [Bill Gates](http://time.com/5402366/bill-gates-africa-development/) and Kristalina Georgieva, CEO of the World Bank. This Commission will submit its flagship report to the Climate Change summit convened by U.N. Secretary General António Guterres in September 2019, the fifth anniversary of the adoption of the Paris Agreement. Our collective challenge is daunting. Equity, inclusivity and cooperation must underpin our response to meet the 1.5-degree targets. Climate change respects no borders; our actions must transcend all frontiers. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] People talk about a kind of war on science, I don't sometimes like that word, but it is accurate, unfortunately. This administration has targeted certain areas of science, especially around the environment, especially around public health. Things that clearly have a kind of economic, financial, and political undertone to them, that favors some people who supported this administration. And that's unfortunate, because that means it's attacking things that are really protecting all Americans and protecting the most vulnerable. Protecting our environment, protecting our future and those things are crucial to the country's success [ UNKNOWN ] in the long term. [ MUSIC ] Interestingly, you don't see the scientists in the Pentagon who work on new missile systems being censored, they're fine. They're travel expenses are covered, everybody's good. But when suddenly it's about climate change or health, or other contentious issues, suddenly they're not allowed to speak. Not allowed to go to conferences. And there's really well documented evidence that a third of the scientists of the EPA, half the scientists of the Park Service, were told not to use the word climate change anymore. That's crazy! Climate is changing, it's like not using the word gravity or something. That's crazy to do that. I don't really care what kind of politics you have or what you listen to on the radio. I don't know a single American who stands up and says, I am pro censorship. I think other voices should always be silenced. I don't know anybody who truly believes that. And so I think when we kinda remember our roots as an American people Things like censoring people who you find inconvenient. Nobody really believes that's a good idea. And when you see science being silenced, you know that that's a bad idea. So scientists are really concerned but, if you really listen to them, they're not concerned about their grant dollars or about their Labs they were talking about the work that they do. That they want to do to serve the world around them. This is why people go into science this is why people become medical researchers, environmental scientists, people who work at the EPA. They're not doing this for money are you kidding me. They're doing it because they care. They do it because they want to serve their country and that's the best way they can do that. 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