With the return of Donald Trump as the United States’ president, the US is at risk of embarking on another fossil-fuel-driven course, withdrawing from the Paris Climate Agreement. For the European Union, this represents a crucial moment to reassess its green ambitions. Ronald Huisman, Professor of Sustainable Energy Finance at Erasmus School of Economics, believes the US is moving backwards with this decision: ‘In the short term, pumping and exporting more oil is a revenue model.’
Increased oil supply lowers oil prices. Europe may therefore also benefit, further encouraged by Trump's call for Saudi Arabia and OPEC (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) to reduce oil prices. However, Huisman argues: ‘Fossil fuels always come with a cost. Renewables, on the other hand—solar and wind power—achieve lower market prices or even generate revenue through energy surpluses fed back into the grid, although Europe’s power grid must be reinforced to support this. In the long run, this makes the renewable energy model more competitive.’
In Europe, the upcoming Clean Industrial Deal is the successor to the European Green Deal (2019). The climate targets will not be completely abandoned, but the focus will be more on greening European industry than before.
- Professor
- More information
You can download the article from NRC Handelsblad, 27 January 2025, above.
