This story originally appears on Grist and is part of the collaboration of the climate table.

As part of a broad attempt to bypass the congress and cut the government’s spending unilaterally, Donald Trump’s administration has activities at the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, the independent federal body that has humanitarian aid and financing for economic Development around the world provides, concluded. On his first day in office, President Trump issued an executive order that interrupts all USAID funding, and the agency subsequently issued a stopping order to almost all funding recipients, from soup kitchens in Sudan to the global humanitarian group Mercy Corps.

Since then, the new Department of Government Efficiency of Elon Musk has closed the agency’s website, closed employees from their email accounts and closed the agency’s office in Washington.

“USAID is a criminal organization,” Musk posted on X on Sunday. “Time to die.” (The agency has been codified in federal legislation, and court challenges are likely to argue that Musk’s actions itself is illegal.)

Although criticism of Trump’s sudden demolition of USAID is largely focused on global public health projects that have long enjoyed two -party support, the effort also threatens billions of dollars intended to combat climate change. USAID’s climate -related financing helps low -income countries to build and adapt renewable energy to the aggravation of natural disasters, as well as carbon bowls and sensitive ecosystems. During Joe Biden’s administration, USAID accelerated its climate -oriented efforts as part of an ambitious new initiative that was supposed to last at the end of the decade. It now appears that the attempt has come to a sudden end, as USAID contractors are preparing around the world to abandon critical projects and to take staff.

Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, who took over USAID as acting director, said Musk’s sudden closing “is not going to get rid of foreign aid.” But even if USAID finally resumes operations to provide emergencyhumanitary assistance such as famine and HIV prevention, the agency will probably still end all its climate-related work under the Trump administration. The result would be a blow to the Landmark Paris Climate Agreement just as significant as Trump’s formal withdrawal of the US from the international treaty. By billions of dollars that have already committed to the battle against global warming, the US is ready to derail climate progress, far beyond its own borders.

“It takes a torch to development programs for which the US population paid,” said Gillian Caldwell, who served under former President Biden as USAID’s chief climate officer. “Many obligations under the Paris Agreement are funding meeting, and this is very at risk.”

The United States spends less than 1 percent of its federal budget on foreign aid, but it still makes the country by far the largest donor in the world. USAID is spreading between $ 40 billion and $ 60 billion a year – almost a quarter of all global humanitarian aid. While the largest shares of that help in recent years have gone to Ukraine, Israel and Afghanistan, the agency also distributes billions of dollars to Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, where it mainly helps to be food security, health, health, health, health, health. And health and health and health promote sanitation and education efforts.