The United States of America (US) has the second-highest rate of greenhouse gas emissions of any country in the world and has set itself an economy-wide target of reducing its net emissions by 50% to 52% below 2005 levels by 2030.
Between 2017 and 2021, the EU and the US continued the work of the US-EU Energy Council but discontinued the deliberations of their joint working group on climate change. During this period, the EU maintained its climate diplomacy dialogue with the US through the United States Climate Alliance, a coalition of 24 states and Puerto Rico.
To support the EU, SPIPA organised exchanges between government officials and the private sector on climate resilience and adaptation, and in so doing, maintained a positive EU-US dialogue on climate action.
With the election of President Joe Biden, the US at federal level re-joined the Paris Agreement and put the fight against climate change high on its domestic and international agenda. The EU-US working group on climate was reinstated and, in June 2021, new climate diplomacy channels were established, notably the EU-US High-Level Climate Action Group and the US-EU Trade and Technology Council, which complement the EU-US energy dialogue (working group on climate).
This coincided with the launch of Next Generation EU, the EU’s green recovery response to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Within the broader topic of green recovery, the EU and the US decided to focus on building renovation and clean energy solutions. This line of action addressed both federal and state-level actors.
In addition to expert dialogues on the topics of green recovery and buildings on the one hand and climate resilience and finance on the other, SPIPA facilitated intensive exchanges between five US states (California, Colorado, Massachusetts, New Mexico and North Carolina) and European regions and cities to work on specific instruments and policies related to climate resilience. In all instances, the US states used this input and invested their own funds to advance their resilience strategies.
The EU and the US have established diplomatic ties to deepen their cooperation on climate action at bilateral level and within multilateral contexts. Strategic partnerships can support these political endeavours by facilitating exchanges on technical matters. This has direct benefits as it helps both parties to overcome challenges and find technical and policy solutions to react to the climate crisis.
Climate Adaptation
Energy