Politico: Trump officials pressure IEA to drop climate mission
Kyiv • UNN
U.S. officials are trying to prevent the International Energy Agency from providing data on renewable energy. This has caused irritation among European officials.
Officials of the administration of US President Donald Trump are trying to prevent the world's most important energy research agency from providing data that the US government believes promotes renewable energy compared to fossil fuels, Politico reports, UNN writes.
Details
At recent meetings of the International Energy Agency, American officials pushed the organization, which publishes influential forecasts for the energy market, to stop working on promoting a global transition to clean energy and zero carbon emissions, according to two people briefed on the discussions.
Tommy Joyce, a Trump supporter, Acting Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the US Department of Energy, insisted that the organization "return to basics" during closed meetings, one of the people said.
Annoyed European officials opposed US pressure, defending the agency's efforts to study clean energy.
"At the IEA Board meetings... the US was really unhelpful," said a European official who was not directly involved in the negotiations but was briefed on their content. This included obstructing any project "that is not related to fossil fuels." A second person, also briefed on the meeting, confirmed this information.
The Trump administration's efforts regarding the IEA are the latest salvo in its broader campaign to dismantle domestic government mechanisms, both domestically and increasingly internationally. This week, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent similarly pressured the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to stop supporting measures to combat climate change, the publication writes.
Tensions surrounding the IEA are likely to escalate further on Thursday and Friday, as Trump officials are in London for a two-day summit organized by the agency, the publication writes.
What Europeans are saying
A European official described the US position as "let's weaken or turn off the IEA if they don't work on our values - it's the same approach they used with any other international organization."
A French official told reporters on Wednesday that "the Trump administration has made it clear its desire for the IEA to distance itself from this agenda."
At the meetings, European countries supported IEA research in the field of clean energy.
"Decarbonization is both a goal and a tool" of energy security, said a French official. "This corresponds to the French position, and we are not afraid that the IEA will change its position," he pointed out.
"Other OECD countries must ensure that they do not completely weaken the organization, which is the body for accounting for actual energy data and data for the transition," said a European official.
Criticizing renewable energy sources, Joyce insisted on cooperation in the field of nuclear energy, geothermal energy and the supply of critical minerals, said one of those who was informed about the meetings.
IEA position
In an emailed statement, the IEA said: "The current program of work of the IEA Secretariat is based on the mandates of our member countries, agreed at the last ministerial meeting in February 2024. The IEA Secretariat will continue to take into account the feedback of all 32 member countries on their priorities for the Agency in the future."
In cautious opening remarks at the summit in London on Thursday, IEA chief Fatih Birol avoided mentioning climate change and emphasized the necessary role of oil and gas, amid the world's increasing transition to clean energy. "Oil and gas are key parts of our energy balance, and they will remain part of it for many years," he said.
Republicans have expressed particular hostility to the IEA's forecast last year that global oil consumption will peak this decade, which they say has damaged investment in energy. The US is a significant sponsor of the IEA and has a strong voice on its board of directors, although European officials insist they will resist any attempts to change the IEA's mandate.
The US delegation to the energy summit in London this week is headed by Joyce, a representative of the US Department of Energy. Joyce also represented the administration at recent IEA meetings. At the summit on Thursday, Joyce said that climate policy creates energy shortages and "harms human lives."
The US is the world's largest producer of oil and gas. Trump accepted millions as donations to his campaign from the fossil fuel industry.
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At the London summit, European officials and other supporters of a strong response to climate change saw an opportunity to rally around the IEA and Birol and imagine an alternative vision of secure energy supply - based on generous, cheap renewable energy. They argue that this is the cheapest and best approach to global energy, backed by IEA data and many others, the publication writes.
"The idea that energy security equals fossil fuels is simply not true," a senior UN official told reporters on Wednesday. - Therefore, although some may promote this version, we know that it is not true. In most parts of the world, renewable energy sources - wind, sun and storage - are the least expensive option for new energy generation."
At the London summit, Birol said there was one thing he regularly told his staff: "Data always wins."
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