(Investing) – PARIS – U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright gave the International Energy Agency on Thursday a one-year deadline to scrap its support of goals to reduce energy emissions to net zero or risk losing the United States as a member.
European countries played down the threat at the agency’s biennial meeting and restated their commitment to pursuing cleaner fuel.
In 2015 the U.S. and nearly 200 other countries signed the Paris Accords, an international pledge to limit global warming by burning less oil, gas and coal, with a goal of reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
“There has been such a group mentality, 10 years invested in a destructive illusion of net zero by 2050, that the U.S. will use all the pressure we have to get the IEA to eventually, in the next year or so, move away from this agenda,” Wright said.
BORN OF THE 1970S OIL SUPPLY CRISIS
The Paris-based IEA was formed after the 1970s oil supply crisis and provides research and data to the U.S. and other industrialised governments to guide energy policy.
The U.S. has paid about $6 million (5.10 million euros) per year in IEA dues, out of a total agency budget of $22 million.
U.S. President Donald Trump has rejected international efforts to tackle global warming and sought to unfetter the development of fossil fuels and stymie the rollout of renewable energy.
He has also repeatedly clashed with Europe and sought to minimise U.S. financial contributions to international organisations.
Wright said many countries have agreed in private with the U.S. stance to move away from net zero goals and continue to increase production and consumption of fossil fuels.
“We are certainly seeing a lot of nations, at least privately, talking about wanting to become competitive again, wanting to re-industrialise their countries, wanting to have strong militaries,” Wright said.
However, he added some politicians, mostly in Europe, were unlikely to publicly backtrack on their green stances.
“A number of the European nations have staked their political platforms and frankly, their desire to be relevant in some area in the world on a net zero agenda. Only the cold, hard reality, the uprising of people and voting out political parties can change things,” Wright said.
LONG-TERM GOAL TO END DEPENDENCE ON FOSSIL FUEL IMPORTS
French Finance Minister Roland Lescure was among those who played down the U.S. threat.
“The worst is never certain. I spoke with Chris Wright, I am convinced we have enough common subjects to work on together, including nuclear energy,” Lescure said.
The host reinforced France’s commitment to clean energy, and said the goal was to electrify its industry to rely less on oil and gas.
“France and Europe’s strategic and structural answer is electrification. We of course still have gas needs, notably for the industrial sector, and I’m very happy the U.S. can meet that need, but objectively the long-term goal is to exit a dependence on imported fossil energy that is still too great,” Lescure said.
Deputy Prime Minister for the Netherlands Sophie Hermans, who chaired the IEA event, said a large majority of countries expressed their desire to build more domestic clean power and rely less on foreign imports.
“Of course, I see how hard it is to achieve these ambitions. But that’s not a reason for me to leave. No. I will roll up my sleeves and work harder,” Hermans said.
IEA Director Fatih Birol declined to comment on the mandate from the U.S. to remove the net zero scenario from its annual World Energy Outlook forecast, but said its data was respected globally as reliable.
(1 euro = $1.1772)
