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The reversal of the Trump administration’s climate policy will have “significant consequences” in the future, said EU climate commissioner, net zero, clean growth Wopke Hoekstra.
The EU has recently outlined the path to achieving a 90% net reduction in greenhouse gases by 2040.
Europe is the fastest warming continent with dramatic weather events unfolding in several member states, from floods to droughts.
Hoekstra says the US, which withdraws from the Paris Climate Agreement, is a “major blow” to international efforts to tackle climate change.
When US President Donald Trump withdrew from the second Paris Climate Agreement, he fundamentally changed America’s climate policy.
Additionally, the Trump administration overturned the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which aimed to reduce carbon emissions from power plants, and rewinded vehicle emission standards.
The EU says it is pushing forward with plans to deal with global warming, but due to the US order, the world’s overall ability to tackle the issue is limited, Hoekstra told Euronows.
As the second-largest emitter in the CO2 gas world, Hoekstra said that it was “clearly deeply unfortunate and a major blow to international efforts.”
“Climate change is not discriminated against. It has nothing to do with heating a planet where CO2 is pumped into the air. And if it is the second largest emitter, then if it is the largest emitter in the world in geopolitical terms, the largest economy is basically said.
But Hoekstra says that if US investors see dividends from technology in the green technology sector, everything may not be lost. He says the private sector will help pave the way for innovation and delivery of better, greener technologies that support the environment.
“My reading is that in the US, whenever your investment in CleanTech, for example, is rewarding, you can see that side effects are also good for the climate.
Hoekstra also points out that Europe needs to grasp this opportunity and either regain innovation or attract innovation to the continent in the growing green technology sector, the major European investment and the functioning capital market system across the EU.
“We need to reconstruct the landscape so that innovation thrives across Europe and that it can take a big step from the perspective of the capital markets coalition,” he said.
“We’ll see more investment from technology and AI companies and governments,” he said.
