The European Union climate commissioner, Wopke Hoekstra, said President Trump’s repudiation of climate action shows no signs of affecting other countries’ ambitions, including his own 27-country bloc.
“We’re doing the exact opposite of what the U.S. is doing, which, by the way, I find concerning and problematic,” he said in an interview in New York City. He described the actions of the Trump administration on climate as “basically checking out.”
But other big economies, he said, are continuing to step up their targets for reducing their emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases. That will be put to the test on Wednesday in New York City, where the United Nations plans to host a climate summit at which 118 countries are expected to announce their 2035 emissions-reductions targets under the Paris climate accord.
That session could be a bit awkward for the European Union, given that its lawmakers haven’t yet finalized the E.U.’s 2035 climate targets. China is expected to announce its targets, which will be closely watched given the scale of China’s current emissions, but also its rapid embrace of solar, wind and battery manufacturing and its desire to pivot a significant part of its economy to clean-energy technologies.
In a speech on Tuesday to the U.N. General Assembly, Mr. Trump spent a portion of his 57 minute speech dismissing the dangers of climate change and lashing out at wind turbines, environmentalists and allies around the world.
The United States has said it will withdraw from the Paris accord, so it is not expected to participate in the U.N. climate summit this week or announce emissions-reductions targets of its own.
Mr. Hoekstra brushed off the E.U.’s delay in issuing its new climate targets as a feature of Europe’s democratic setup. The European Union has tentatively agreed to reduce its emissions in the range of 66 percent to 72 percent by 2035, compared with 1990 levels, and Mr. Hoekstra said the terms would be finalized by the time the international climate talks known as COP30 begin in Brazil in early November.
“That is what we call democracy,” he said. “And 10 out of 10 times, I would argue that such a system and such an approach is by far the better and the superior” system to one that “lacks the ambition that the world needs, and that doesn’t have democratic legitimacy.”
His comments signaled the delicate geopolitical position in which European leaders find themselves. They are increasingly at odds with Washington, and yet dependent on U.S. cooperation for trade and security.
It helps to explain why, facing pressure from the White House, the E.U. is accelerating its ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas. That could be a boon for American gas suppliers. The E.U. announced that it would buy $250 billion in oil and gas from the United States every year through the end of President Trump’s term.
Europe is also eyeing China warily. Chinese companies dominate clean energy technologies, from the control of critical minerals to the manufacture of relatively inexpensive electric cars. European lawmakers have accused China of unfair competition.
Somini Sengupta is the international climate reporter on the Times climate team.
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