World urged to stay the course on climate action as Trump turns away

The European Commission’s director general for climate action says the rest of the world must hold steady on decarbonisation and the transition to renewable energy in the face of the “global turmoil” unleashed by US President Donald Trump’s election.

In Australia for meetings with government and business leaders, Kurt Vandenberghe said economies that turned away from the transition to renewable energy risked being saddled with stranded assets.

The European Commission’s director general for climate action, Kurt Vandenberghe, in Melbourne.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

“Businesses and investors are asking us for predictability and certainty, and in the current context of global turmoil provoked by some of our cherished partners, we see now the value increasingly of staying on course and remaining predictable,” he said in an interview.

“One difference with 10 years ago and the first time Mr Trump was in the White House is that 10 years ago, the Paris Agreement was about ecology. Today, the Paris Agreement is about economy.

“It has unleashed a wave of investments across the world, especially in China. So that shows where the future of the economy lies, and Mr Trump’s anti-climate policies will slow down a bit the transition, but it will not change the course of it.”

Last week, Trump’s new energy secretary, Chris Wright, a former oil and gas industry executive, told a conservative conference in London that the UK’s net zero goals were “sinister”.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright says net zero is being used to “shrink human freedom”.Credit: AP

Speaking at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference, Wright said: “Net zero [by] 2050 is a sinister goal. It’s a terrible goal. It’s unachievable by any practical means, but the aggressive pursuit of it – and you’re sitting in a country that has aggressively pursued this goal – has not delivered any benefits, but it’s delivered tremendous cost.

“I think the agenda might be different here than climate change. It’s certainly been a powerful tool used to grow government power, top-down control, and shrink human freedom. This is sinister.”

Under both sides of politics the United Kingdom has pursued ambitious carbon reduction goals and recently committed to reduce emissions by 81 per cent by 2035 under the Paris Agreement, from which Trump withdrew the United States shortly after his January 20 inauguration.

Vandenberghe said the European Union was disappointed by Trump’s decision to pull out of Paris, describing it as “very regrettable”.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen with US Vice President J.D. Vance in Paris this month.Credit: AP

“As our president, [Ursula] von der Leyen, has said ... the Paris Agreement remains the best hope for humanity and for the global economy. So it’s even more reason for us to stay the course,” he said.

“We will do what we can to engage positively with the US administration, but also work with a lot of other stakeholders in the United States to make sure that we continue on this path.”

Since taking office, the Trump administration has abandoned the UN’s climate treaty, cut restrictions on fossil fuel projects, removed permits from some wind projects and sought to claw back clean-energy stimulus packages delivered under former president Biden.

Europe aims to be the first carbon-neutral continent by 2050, with an intermediate target of slashing emissions by 55 per cent by 2030. However, on Thursday, the European Environment Agency reported that the EU was only partially on track to meet its 2030 goals.

‘Bolder implementation’

Executive director Leena Ylä-Mononen said decisive action was needed to keep the EU on track.

“This means bolder implementation of existing legislation, additional measures where needed, and ensuring there is sufficient financing to deliver our climate, environment and sustainability objectives.”

Australia has committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050 and reducing emissions by 43 per cent (on 2005 levels) by 2030.

Under the Paris Agreement, the global community committed to working to limit the increase in global average temperatures to below 2 degrees and pursuing efforts to keep warming below 1.5 degrees.

Trump’s withdrawal from Paris places the US with Iran, Libya and Yemen as the only countries outside the agreement.

Vandenberghe said businesses looking at “profit-making beyond the next quarter” would increasingly look to the climate.

“If not, they will have a big transition risk, in the sense of being saddled with stranded assets, but also missing the opportunity and the growth that lies in the net zero economy.”

Despite the global uncertainty unleashed by Trump’s election, Vandenberghe insisted that Europe remained steadfast on its decarbonisation goals.

“I don’t see anyone questioning the need for this climate action, and that’s why we are doubling down on our international outreach to make sure that the world understands that the future direction is green capitalism, not brown capitalism,” he said.

“And last time, when Mr Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, no other economy followed him. The US was alone and came back after a number of years. We will do what we can to make sure that again, this time, no one follows the lead of the US.”

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