Trade bodies slam Trump climate change retreat

Energy UK confirms UK energy sector “resolute” on decarbonisation while renewables group warns USA will fall “behind the rest of the world”

Trade bodies Energy UK and Renewables UK have reacted critically to news the US president Donald Trump will renege on the climate change commitments it signed up to in the Paris Agreement.

Trump announced last night that the USA will pull out of the worldwide agreement, signed in November 2015, under which 195 nations agreed measures designed to prevent global global warming.

EnergyUK welcomed a commitment made by foreign secretary Boris Johnson’s that Britain will continue to press Donald Trump to act on climate change, despite the about turn.

The organisation’s chief executive Lawrence Slade added: “The UK energy sector is resolute in its commitment to decarbonisation and delivering on our international climate change targets. Energy companies of all sizes will continue to push ahead in the drive to reduce carbon emissions and develop clean, affordable energy.  

“We look to the next UK government to confirm its commitment to the Climate Change Act 2008 and to deliver an industrial strategy that will build a low-carbon future across the power, heat and transport sectors.”

Emma Pinchbeck, RenewableUK’s executive director, said that Trump’s decision would not derail the global green energy boom.

She said:  “Far from putting America first, withdrawing from action on climate change means that president Trump has put the US behind the rest of the world.

“The global renewables boom is inevitable with or without President Trump. These technologies, including wind, wave and tidal energy, are not just the best options for tackling climate change – they’re now the best options for powering the economy.

“We must continue to show leadership by pushing ahead to deliver our carbon budgets – and leave behind those foolish enough to miss the opportunity.”  

John Alker, campaign and policy director at the UK Green Building Council, branded Trump’s move “predictable and depressing”.

But he said the backlash against Trump from other world leaders, business chiefs and US local politicians, had been “swift and inspiring”.

“The UK Green Building Council is proud to stand together with our colleagues in over 70 countries, including the US, with a global network of 32,000 member businesses around the world. We reject the discredited notion that climate action comes at the expense of economic growth.

“The nations, regions, cities and businesses that will thrive in the future understand and embrace the climate challenge.”