Bloomberg reports that under President Donald Trump, the US has aggressively promoted the use of fossil fuels, pressuring nations to delay climate initiatives and to buy more American oil and LNG. The Americans blocked a global carbon tax on shipping, used trade deals and tariff threats to influence countries like Japan, South Korea, and the EU, and pushed international bodies such as the IEA and multilateral development banks to favor fossil fuels over clean energy. They write:
The world was on the brink of a climate milestone: adopting a global carbon tax for the shipping industry. Countries had spent years crafting the plan, hoping to throttle planet-warming pollution from cargo vessels. They had every reason to think the measure would pass when the International Maritime Organization (IMO) met in mid-October.
Enter Donald Trump. After returning to the White House for a second term, the president and his top officials undertook a monthslong campaign to defeat the initiative. The US threatened tariffs, levies and visa restrictions to get its way. A battery of American diplomats and cabinet secretaries met with various nations to twist arms, according to a senior US State Department official, who asked for anonymity to speak candidly. […]
At first glance, it might look like the US has exited the climate fight. The president is once again pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement, and he may not send an official US delegation to next month’s COP30 climate summit in Brazil. But don’t be confused: America is still in the arena; it’s just fighting for the other side. […]
And in a perverse twist for a US president who’s decried the world’s reliance on China, other nations are increasingly linking arms with Beijing as they bid for zero-emission energy tech. “When it comes to dealing with China, whether it’s countries or companies, politicians and executives tell me: ‘Better the devil that you know,’” says Ioannis Ioannou, an associate professor at the London Business School whose research focuses on sustainability and corporate social responsibility. “It offers more stability than the Trump administration.”
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