One of the first executive orders signed by US President Donald Trump at the start of his second term in office concerns his country’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. In climate terms and data, this choice is undoubtedly a blow to the global community’s efforts to address the climate crisis, as the United States ranks second after China in overall global greenhouse gas emissions, and first in terms of per capita emissions.
In political terms, the withdrawal sends a very problematic message. It is the moment when the global scientific community has pointed out in the most categorical and documented way the absolute criticality of the next five years in the need to rapidly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and contain temperature increases. 2024 was recorded as the warmest year in history and the first in which the temperature increase exceeded the critical ceiling of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
At the same time, California is experiencing unprecedented, terrifying wildfires related to the climate crisis, counting victims and facing material damage, which, according to estimates, may exceed 250 billion dollars. According to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, America’s scientific and regulatory agency, climate disasters in recent decades have cost the US a total of 2.9 trillion dollars. So, at this critical juncture that requires bold leadership, collective action and climate diplomacy, the US, the largest economy on the planet, is choosing to join the club of the few countries (Libya, Yemen and Iran) that are outside the Paris climate pact.
It is not at all certain how much the choices and beliefs of the new US president are able to ultimately fuel a broader green backlash, the so-called “greenlash.” Even in the US itself, Trump’s “Drill, baby drill” slogan in his inauguration speech, clearly gives many the signal for more mining, but today the green economy in his country provides 10 million jobs, while the fossil fuel industry employs just 300,000 jobs.
The only thing that is certain is that this new stance of the global superpower creates a clear leadership vacuum in the fight against the climate crisis. For Europe, which has traditionally played a decisive role in climate policy issues, this could translate into greater responsibility but also an opportunity to lead at the global level, with a real explosion of innovation and leaps toward achieving climate neutrality.
In Greece, the government, and in particular the competent Ministry of Environment, thought it appropriate to make a very special announcement as Trump assumed the presidency. First, it gleefully announced the expression of (nonbinding) interest by the US oil giant Chevron for drilling in the Ionian Sea. In the same announcement, it informed us that the the offshore Katakolo block in Western Greece is being “released” and its marine area is to be included in the new planned Ionian marine park. So, on the one hand, the ministry welcomes the expressed interest of an oil company in drilling in a new area and, on the other hand, creates a marine park in the same wider marine area to protect biodiversity. The announcement constitutes the definition of greenwashing and insults our intelligence.
Of course, the initiative for a marine park in the Ionian Sea is excellent, in an area that has been internationally recognized as of global ecological importance. The decision to cancel the drilling in Katakolo is also important. However, a marine protected area and hydrocarbon drilling do not go together. It’s as simple as that.
As a country, we are very fortunate to host unique biodiversity and enjoy – along with millions of tourists – the cleanliness of the waters of the Ionian Sea and Crete, precisely because there are no hydrocarbon extraction platforms and other such heavily polluting facilities in Greece’s seas. The government’s insistence on extraction lacks both climate and economic logic.
In this era of great political and social changes, let us show in practice as a continent and a country that addressing the universal threats of the climate crisis and the loss of biodiversity cannot but be the time of our own crisis.
Dimitris Karavellas is CEO of WWF Greece.