U.S. threatens IEA exit again
The United States has renewed its warning that it could withdraw from the International Energy Agency (IEA), with Energy Secretary Chris Wright saying Washington will press the agency to abandon its net-zero agenda.
Speaking on the final day of an IEA ministerial meeting in Paris, Wright argued that the 52-year-old body should refocus on its original mission of safeguarding global energy security, News.Az reports, citing AFP.
The IEA was established in the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis to coordinate responses to major supply disruptions. However, Wright criticized the agency for embracing climate policies, including the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
“The US will use all the pressure we have to get the IEA to eventually, in the next year or so, move away from this agenda,” Wright said at a press conference, describing net zero as a “destructive illusion.”
He warned that if the organization does not shift back to prioritizing “energy honesty, energy access and energy security,” the United States could leave the agency.
The net-zero emissions target underpins the objectives of the Paris Agreement, which seeks to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
Wright, a former fracking executive, said there was a “0.0 percent chance” of achieving net-zero emissions.
News.Az
By Nijat Babayev
