How Trump’s ‘drill, child, drill’ pledge is affecting different nations

The UN local weather summit within the United Arab Emirates in 2023 ended with a name to “transition away from fossil fuels”. It was applauded as a historic milestone in world local weather motion.

Barely a yr later, nonetheless, there are fears that the worldwide dedication could also be dropping momentum, as the expansion of fresh power transition is slowing down whereas burning of fossil fuels continues to rise.

And now there’s US President Donald Trump’s “national energy emergency”, embracing fossil fuels and ditching clear power insurance policies – that has additionally begun to affect some nations and power firms already.

In response to Trump’s “drill, child, drill” slogan aimed at ramping up fossil fuel extraction, and the US notifying the UN of its withdrawal from the Paris local weather settlement, Indonesia, for example, has hinted that it could comply with go well with.

“If america doesn’t need to adjust to the worldwide settlement, why ought to a rustic like Indonesia adjust to it?” requested Hashim Djojohadikusumo, particular envoy for local weather change and power of Indonesia, as reported by the country’s government-run news agency Antara.

Indonesia has remained within the listing of high 10 carbon-emitting nations for years now.

“Indonesia produces three tons of carbon [per person a year] whereas the US produces 13 tons,” he requested on the ESG Sustainable Discussion board 2025 in Jakarta on 31 January.

“But we’re those being advised to shut our energy crops… So, the place is the sense of justice right here?”

Nithi Nesadurai, director with Local weather Motion Community Southeast Asia, stated the indicators from her area had been regarding.

She stated the “richest nation and the most important oil producer on the earth” rising its manufacturing provides different states “a straightforward excuse to extend their very own – which they’re already doing”.

In South Africa, Africa’s greatest financial system and a significant carbon emitter, a $8.5bn foreign-aided transition mission from the coal sector was already shifting at a snail’s tempo, and now there are fears that it could get derailed additional.

Wikus Kruger, director of Energy Futures Lab on the College of Cape City, stated there was a “chance” that decommissioning of outdated coal-fired energy stations can be “additional delayed”.

Nonetheless he stated that whereas there was some “stroll again” from transition to renewables, there was nonetheless development within the clear power sector that was anticipated to proceed.

Argentina withdrew its negotiators from the COP29 local weather assembly in Baku final November, days after Trump gained the US presidency. It has since adopted Trump’s lead in signalling it would withdraw from the Paris Settlement of 2015 – which underpins world efforts to fight local weather change.

“We now count on our oil and fuel manufacturing to go up,” Enrique Viale, president of the Argentine Affiliation of Environmental Attorneys, advised the PJDM.

“President Milei has hinted that he intends to withdraw from the Paris Settlement and has stated environmentalism is a part of the woke agenda.”

Meanwhile, energy giant Equinor has just announced it’s halving funding in renewable power over the following two years whereas rising oil and fuel manufacturing, and one other oil main, BP, is predicted to make a similar announcement soon.

Trump has not simply stated “drill, child, drill” but additionally: “We’ll export American power all around the world.”

Potential overseas patrons are already lining up.

India and the US have agreed to significantly increase the availability of American oil and fuel to the Indian market.

On the finish of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US go to on 14 February, the 2 nations issued a joint statement that “reaffirmed” the US can be “a number one provider of crude oil and petroleum merchandise and liquified pure fuel to India”.

A number of days after Trump’s inauguration, South Korea, the world’s third largest liquified pure fuel importer, has hinted its intention to purchase extra American oil and fuel geared toward lowering a commerce surplus with the US and enhancing power safety, international media have reported from Seoul.

Officers with Japan’s largest energy generator, JERA, have advised Reuters they too need to improve purchases of liquified pure fuel from the US to diversify provide, because it presently imports half of it from the Asia-Pacific area.

“There’s actually a menace that if the US seeks to both flood markets with low-cost fossil fuels, or bully nations into shopping for extra of its fossil fuels, or each, the worldwide power transition could be slowed,” stated Lorne Stockman, analysis director with Oil Change Worldwide, a analysis and advocacy organisation for transition to scrub power.

Scientists have stated there could be no new fossil gasoline extraction and there must be a fast discount of carbon emissions (round 45% by 2030 from the 2019 degree) if the world is to restrict warming to 1.5 Celsius in comparison with the pre-industrial interval.

“The economics of power provide are a key driver of decarbonisation,” stated David Brown, director of power transition observe at Wooden Mackenzie, a world power think-tank.

“The useful resource base of US power helps the position of pure fuel and liquids manufacturing. Against this, import-dependent economies resembling China, India, and people in Southeast Asia have a dramatic financial incentive to decarbonise sources of power.”

International power transition funding surpassed $2tn for the primary time final yr however studies have additionally proven that the growth of clean energy transition has markedly slowed lately, whereas many main banks continue to finance fossil fuels.