The re-election of President Donald Trump this month is sure to serve as a shock to the system in a variety of areas from national security to economic policy—and energy and climate are sure to be no outlier here. But unlike some of these other disciplines of international policy, the Trump 2.0 administration is more likely to hew closer to the priorities and strategies it took the first time around on energy and climate diplomacy.
As with the last Trump administration, we can expect that an early priority will be a complete withdrawal from the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, a repeat move from his earlier executive tenure. While a legally-binding international treaty, it is worth remembering that the Paris Climate Agreement is based on Nationally Determined Contributions to meeting goals to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases. Given the de-facto voluntary reality of the agreement, Paris can’t unilaterally become…
