The EU has pledged to work on clean energy and climate action with US local authorities and businesses rather than focusing on the federal government, after President Donald Trump called climate change “the greatest con job ever” and pushed American industry to drill for more fossil fuels.
The US, the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter, pulled out of the UN’s Paris climate agreement for the second time this year and has rapidly cut back funding for clean energy, instead promising billions of dollars in subsidies to the oil and gas sector.
In a draft policy paper on climate diplomacy efforts seen by the Financial Times, the European Commission said it would “co-operate with the US in the clean energy transition and on clean technologies”, notably with “subnational entities, business and think tanks”.