US sides with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Russia on fossil fuels

At the COP24 climate summit in Katowice, Poland, the US has pursued an unusual course. The course aligns the US with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Russia when it comes to defending the use of fossil fuels. The US has specifically chosen not to endorse a report on climate change which experts at the UN’s The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, wrote. This despite the report being expected to be a cornerstone for future deliberations. The report describes the impact of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels.

As reported by the Washington Post, Wells Griffith, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Energy, says that “no country should have to sacrifice economic prosperity or energy security in pursuit of environmental sustainability.”