THE ROLE OF THE US STATES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE REGIME DURING THE PRESIDENCY OF DONALD TRUMP. TRANSNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The aim of the article is to analyze actions of state authorities and their involvement in the implementation of the international climate regime, determined by the change in the federal government's policy during the Donald Trump administration.

The theoretical model used in the analysis below is the transnational paradigm, which indicates the growing importance of non-state actors in international relations. Their role and influence are determined by the internal structures of the state, which in the case of the United States will mean the necessity to refer to the federal system and indicate the possibility of autonomous actions by states that will be consistent with the essence of American federalism with an active role as actors in international relations.

The article seeks to answer two main research questions: Were the actions of state authorities during the presidency of Donald Trump complementary or substitutable to the federal policy in the field of combating climate change? How were states implementing the obligations of the international climate regime?

The answers to the above questions will allow to verify the assumed hypothesis that as a result of the federal government's contested attitude towards combating climate change, states have taken over obligations of the international climate regime and autonomously pursued a policy coherent with its main assumptions. The change in federal policy during the presidency of Donald Trump meant that state initiatives became the guarantor of the implementation of climate change policy.