Incoming US President Donald Trump may seize opportunities to develop clean energy, says WRI's Government Affairs Director Christina Deconcini in a DW interview. He could stimulate other steps to combat climate change.
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Donald Trump is due to be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on Friday (20.01.2017). Trump has previously stated that climate change is not real, has nominated climate change deniers for key agency and cabinet posts, promised to defund climate research, and said he intends to pull the US out of the Paris Agreement.
Are there any potential opportunities for Trump to combat climate change? DW spoke with World Resources Institute's (WRI) Director of Government Affairs Christina Deconcini to find out.
No Trump card for the climate?
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DW: Donald Trump has appointed several climate skeptics to his cabinet. Trump has said he could pull out of the Paris Agreement. What impact do you think all this will have once the new administration is in place?
Christina Deconcini: You mentioned troubling signs for sure, but I also think we need to wait and see what he ends up doing.
There are not reasons to be optimistic if you look at some of his appointments. But there are threads that might prove us wrong, and let's hope they do.
For instance, [Trump's secretary of defense nominee] James Mattis understands the threat of climate change. And Rick Perry, who's going to be the head of energy, did a lot of really good things in Texas. [The state] leads our country in the amount of wind energy it has in place, which grew substantially under his leadership.
And I think once he becomes more informed about some of the economic drivers, and why moving forward on some of these things is actually good for America, and can make America strong, perhaps some of the things we've heard from his campaign rhetoric and some of the things we're worried about with his appointees will be somewhat tempered.
Wind power accounted for around 12 percent of electricity generated in Texas during 2016Image: Getty Images/S. Platt
Do you think President Trump will make good on his threat to take the US out of the Paris Agreement?
If you take them at their word, it sounds like they want to have a seat at the table. And President Trump is going to hear from a lot of international leaders at the G20 and G7 meetings about why this is an important piece of our international diplomacy.
I think he will understand it's in America's best interests as well, to continue to be part of these discussions and negotiations. Chinese President Xi Jinping has just urged President Trump to stay in the climate deal, and I think we're going to hear more and more pressure from international leaders. We've already heard from Chancellor Merkel and others on the importance of this.
Will the US keep to its national target of reducing 2005 emission levels 26 to 28 percent by 2025?
That is going to depend on the different pieces of the puzzle. It does sound like the new administration is going to roll back or stop the Clean Power Plan, which is a key piece of us meeting our targets.
But there are a number of trends happening both globally and in the United States that are pushing emissions down. The states are doing a lot on this. It's quite conceivable that under a new administration, the states would really up their game - the states that are acting to reduce emissions.
Image: WRI
So it is possible - through market forces and good state actions and businesses that are not going to stop moving in low-carbon directions - that we will be able to meet those targets.
You mentioned China earlier, the other key player when it comes to reducing emissions globally. Do you see China as overtaking the US, or taking on the leadership role in climate policy?
I hope the US will remain a leader. I think as Trump becomes more informed, I'm hoping that he will not cede the ground on the clean energy race to other countries. But again, we don't know. A lot of things we are speculating based on what we've heard so far, and whom he has appointed.
All in all, what could help persuade President Trump that it is a good idea to support renewable energy and measures to halt climate change?
One of the most important things will be hearing from international leaders he's in negotiations with on other topics of importance at G7 and other forums. Also to understand how this keeps America in a competitive position worldwide, because he does seem interested in that.
And it aligns with his wanting to make America great again - of not ceding the clean energy race to others, and knowing that if we want to be a leader, we need to continue investment in this, we need to make our grid more flexible and reliable so that we can lead on all these things, which will also help us to export additional technology we develop.
So I believe the economics of this is what will be most compelling, or most likely to move this new administration in a way that's good for the US economy, and good for low-carbon growth.
I also believe that hearing from more constituents in the US will help as well.
Christina Deconcini is director of government affairs for the World Resources Institute. An attorney, she oversees legislative work and strategy on climate change and energy issues for the group.
The interview was conducted by Irene Quaile.
Environmental reactions to Trump victory
Trump has made no secret of the fact that he does not believe in climate change, and that global warming is a hoax. Read what environmentalists and climate fighters are saying about his election victory.
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Gray zone
"Trump must choose whether he will be a President remembered for putting America and the world on a path to climate disaster, or for listening to the American public and keeping us on a path to climate progress. Trump better choose wisely, otherwise - we can guarantee him the hardest fight of his life every step of the way.” - Michael Brune, Executive Director, The Sierra Club
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Dry reality
"Today is a bad day for international climate policy. That a climate change denier can be elected as the most powerful man in the world will make efforts to reduce emissions and secure adequate funding for adaptation measures all the more difficult... The international community needs reliable partners for ambitious climate policies." - Sabine Minninger, climate advisor for Brot für die Welt
Image: Getty Images
Out of control
"The Paris Agreement was signed and ratified not by a President, but by the United States itself. As a matter of international law, and as a matter of human survival, the nations of the world can, must, and will hold the United States to its climate commitments." - Jean Su from California-based Center for Biological Diversity
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Green solutions
"We know that yesterday's elections are undoubtedly going to affect the tone of the negotiations, but we know the task we have in front of us remains the same: that we must continue to keep our aim and our focus on the long-term that the countries set for themselves in the Paris Agreement." - Mariana Panuncio-Feldman, World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) Senior Director of International Climate Cooperation
Image: Getty Images/R.Wise
Slow death
"For communities in the global south, the U.S. citizens' choice to elect Donald Trump seems like a death sentence. We are suffering the effects of climate change after years of inaction by rich countries... and with an unhinged climate change denier in the White House, the relatively small progress made is under threat." - Wilfred D'Costa, Asian Peoples' Movement on Debt and Development
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/C. Melzer
Opening the floodgates
"President-elect Donald Trump's stance on global warming is well known. Ironically, he contributed to the popularity of our recent 'Turn down the heat'-report series for the World Bank by attacking it on Twitter. Yet apart from this, science cannot expect any positive climate action from him." - Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
Image: Reuters/D. Reuter
Washed up?
"It's clear that Donald Trump is about to be one of the most powerful people in the world, but even he does not have the power to change the laws of physics... Climate change has become a geopolitical issue of the top order and no country can be perceived as not doing its fair share on climate without serious consequences for its standing in the world." - Alden Meyer, Union of Concerned Scientists
Image: Reuters/T. Kalifa
A burning issue
"As a young woman and first-time voter I will not tolerate Trump's denialism of the action needed for climate justice. Our country must undergo a systemic change and just transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy within my lifetime. The next four years are critical for getting on the right pathway." - Becky Chung, the youth network SustainUS.
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Time to be clean
"The fact of climate change is not changed by what happened last night. At this very historic moment, it is important to remind ourselves that we were in the wilderness before and progress was possible. Leaders across the world will expect the US to honor its commitment and they won't wait in the race to the renewable energy future." - Li Shuo, Greenpeace China
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Shrinking opportunities
“Donald Trump is the newly elected President of the United States. As of today, the Paris Agreement is an even stronger signal against denying reality and for global cooperation to solve the pressing problems of the world... You cannot ignore the facts." - Christoph Bals, Policy Director of Germanwatch
Image: Getty Images/M.Ralston
Powerful force
“Trump will try and slam the brakes on climate action, which means we need to throw all of our weight on the accelerator... We need the rest of the world to charge ahead and look beyond the White House to partner with civil society, businesses, and local governments who are still committed to climate action... Our work becomes much harder now, but it’s not impossible.” - 350.org
Image: AP
Growing concern
"Africa is already burning. The election of Trump is a disaster for our continent. The United States, if it follows through on its new President's rash words about withdrawing from the international climate regime, will become a pariah state in global efforts for climate action." - Geoffrey Kamese from Friends of the Earth Africa
