Europe needs to take stronger stance against US on climate – researchers

Europe has to take a clear stance against the pro-fossil fuel politics of the United States, and strengthen strategic partnerships to continue pursuing its ambitious climate goals, researchers of the German think tank SWP said in a report. While at the beginning of the second administration of President Donald Trump it looked as if Europe had to drive global climate action without the US, the country has now become an outspoken antagonist to the EU in international climate politics, said the researchers.

“In multilateral forums, the US under Trump has become the biggest opponent of the progressive coalition centred on the EU,” they wrote.

The US withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreements and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) marks the end of US cooperation with the EU on climate, the report said. In addition, the Trump administration is pursuing a foreign policy based on the promotion of fossil fuels to ensure US “energy dominance” in the world market. The researchers said that this forces Germany and the EU to take measures to protect global climate ambitions.

Specifically, the EU needs to strengthen its strategic partnerships with countries that help facilitate the clean energy transition and greenhouse gas reduction efforts, the researchers argued. Strategic cooperation with China, India, and African countries was particularly important for the effective implementation of global climate protection measures. This also required a coherent and ambitious global vision for climate and energy that is consistently promoted in the EU’s communication and actions. A “Clean Power Strategy” could counter Trump’s strategy of “energy dominance”.

With regard to energy, the EU needs to find a delicate balance between ensuring supply security, furthering decarbonisation, and strengthening strategic autonomy, the SWP researchers said. On the one hand, closer energy cooperation with the US, including the continued import of liquefied natural gas (LNG), can help to ensure security of energy supply in Europe – especially in light of the EU’s pledge to ban energy imports from Russia. On the other hand, continued dependencies on the US can limit the EU’s energy autonomy, and decrease the potential for international climate action, SWP said.

During Trump’s first term in office, global climate action advocates, as well as sub-national US government levels continued their efforts without the federal government’s support, until president Joe Biden made it a priority once more during his term from 2021 to 2025.