U.S. and European officials are growing increasingly worried as hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. energy assistance promised to Ukraine remain unreleased, according to Reuters. As severe winter conditions push the nation's war‑damaged power grid to the brink, authorities fear residents will freeze to death in their own homes if aid is not delivered.

Recent cuts to U.S. foreign assistance will worsen global climate vulnerability, not just humanitarian suffering, according to Foreign Affairs. Reduced development and resilience funding increases long-term climate risk for both vulnerable nations and global stability more broadly.

America’s retreat from global disaster response has seen humanitarian crises deepen, Vox reports. Countries like Afghanistan and Sudan have struggled to fill the gap once covered by U.S. emergency aid.

The loss of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and USAID grants has forced layoffs, patrol cuts, and stalled anti-poaching efforts across Africa.