US Withdrawal from International Climate Protection

The participants of the summit were unable to agree on a joint final declaration on climate protection. The US, whose representative, the new Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry, had vetoed the declaration, and therefore presented the future US path for the first time in direct confrontation with his colleagues.

The content of the declaration should have been a commitment to the Paris Climate Protection Agreement. Perry declined his agreement on the grounds that the US would still need to examine what their future program would look like. He also rejected the commitment to support the poorest countries of the world, which were supposed to receive funds from industrial nations to carry out compensatory measures against the effects of global warming.

According to the Washington Examiner, Rick Perry outlined how the US, under President Donald Trump, is imagining their energy supply of the future: "We are committed to developing, deploying and commercializing breakthrough technologies and developing the necessary policies that will help renewables become competitive with traditional sources of energy."

At the same time, he underlined the importance of fossil fuels coal and natural gas, which should continue to play a dominant role alongside renewables: "Renewables will continue to have an important role but traditional sources are still needed for energy and economic security into the foreseeable future," he said. In his view, other countries are to invest in highly efficient energy resources, as well as nuclear and low-emission coal and natural gas.

The fact that solar and wind energy are already competitive with fossil fuels was left out of the picture. He also didn’t mention whether the US will actually quit the Paris Climate Agreement, as many observers feared. Perry  (pic. on right) also sent a signal for the first time that he will not be able to stand up for his own position on renewable energies under Trump. Under him as governor, the former oil state of Texas became US number 1 in wind energy. That is why many people had hopes that he would stand up to Trump and would not put renewable energies onto the sideline.

Italian Minister of Economic Affairs, Carlo Calenda, as the host had the most unthankful task of sharing this decision with the public. But he also emphasized the will of the other six nations to continue their support of the Paris Climate Agreement. In addition to the US, Germany, Italy, France, Great Britain, Japan and Canada belong to the G7 countries.

Next month, the G7 summit will be held in Sicily. It will show whether the US will actually withdraw from the treaty and will start to pollute the planet all over again under Trump's motto 'America First'.