Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has terminated a climate adaptation project in Sri Lanka, as part of a sweeping effort to eliminate what it deems to be “wasteful spending.”
The project was among 199 contracts cancelled by DOGE, which has been tasked with restructuring US government expenditures under Donald Trump’s administration.
In a post on X, the Department stated:
“Great coordination across 35 agencies over the last two days to terminate 199 wasteful contracts, saving ~$250 million, including:
Contract for ‘Asia Pacific – Sri Lanka climate change mitigation adaptation and resilience coordinator services for forest service’
Musk has publicly opposed climate initiatives he considers excessive, and his department’s latest move aligns with his ongoing campaign against ‘climate alarmism’. DOGE has been instrumental in cutting government expenditures, particularly foreign aid programmes, which Musk has frequently criticised as inefficient and corrupt.
Great coordination across 35 agencies over the last two days to terminate 199 wasteful contracts saving ~$250mm, including:
— Department of Government Efficiency (@DOGE) February 8, 2025
-Contract for “Asia Pacific - Sri Lanka climate change mitigation adaption and resilience coordinator services for forest service”
-Workshop for…
The cancellation of the Sri Lanka climate project follows the abrupt suspension of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) programme under President Trump’s executive order on 20 January 2025. The order effectively froze all U.S. foreign aid, shutting down USAID’s global operations and reducing its workforce from 10,000 to fewer than 300 employees.
