US renews threat to withdraw from IEA over climate advocacy concerns

"We're definitely not satisfied," US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said, ahead of an IEA ministerial meeting. The agency must complete reforms "for the US to remain a long-term member," he said

By Aaron Clark

 

The US renewed threats to quit the International Energy Agency unless the organization scales back climate advocacy and focuses on energy security. 

“We’re definitely not satisfied,” US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Tuesday, ahead of an IEA ministerial meeting opening Wednesday. The agency must complete reforms “for the US to remain a long-term member,” he said.

 

The Paris-based agency, which was established in response to the 1970s oil crisis, has faced criticism in recent years for the publication of long-term forecasts which factor in more active government policies to shift away from fossil fuels. Republican lawmakers last year sought to cut US funding and denounced the agency for politicizing its projections.

 

The IEA didn’t immediately respond to an emailed request for comment outside its normal business hours.

 

A latest flagship report published in November tempered the IEA’s forecasts on an imminent peak in oil demand, and reintroduced a “Current Policies Scenario” after a five-year hiatus, which bases forecasts on existing conditions. The decision reflected rising political and economic uncertainty and wasn’t the result of US pressure, Executive Director Fatih Birol said at the time.

 

Birol deserves credit for that shift, but must continue to drive reforms to refocus the IEA, Wright said at a Tuesday event hosted by the French Institute of International Relations.

 

“If it goes back to what it was — it was a fabulous international data recording agency, it was was getting into critical minerals, was focused on big energy issues — we’re all in on that,” he said. “But if they insist that it’s so dominated and infused with climate stuff — yes, then we’re out.”

 

Wright previously flagged last July that the US could quit the IEA without additional reforms. The agency receives roughly $6 million annually, or about 14% of its budget, from the US.

 

President Donald Trump’s administration last month expanded its retreat from global cooperation on climate change by withdrawing from dozens of international organisations, including UN bodies and the International Renewable Energy Agency.