Greens MEPs have expressed concerns about the impact a second Trump presidency may have on current efforts to tackle the issue of climate change.
The recent worst floods in Spain in generations have been a stark reminder of climate issues.
The result of climate change or not the dreadful events in Spain the past few days have reignited debate about the issue.
This week’s U.S election is on a knife-edge with little to show between the two candidates.
Speaking to this site, Sergey Lagodinsky, a senior Greens Member of the European Parliament from Germany, admits to being very worried about Donald Trump getting the keys to the Oval Office again.
Speaking to this website, he says,
“It’s little surprise that we are worried. First and foremost — it’s almost certain that we will expect a rollback in climate policy, both in the US and on the global stage.”
Lagodinsky, an MEP for 5 years, says furthermore, a win by Trump will “embolden authoritarians in Europe”, adding,
“It will be a blow to democracy worldwide. The trade relations could also suffer as more American protectionism will hit our economies in Europe.”
Daniel Freund, another Greens/EFA MEP who has been following the US election in Pennsylvania and Washington DC this week, says he has seen for himself
“just how highly divided this election campaign and this country is.”
He told IPD,
“It’s quite clear that aside from both Europe and the climate crisis, the greatest threat facing humanity, play no role in this campaign for both Republicans and democrats. The impact of these elections on European politics, democracy and rule of law will be huge. Whatever happens on Tuesday, it’s quite clear that the message for Europe is that we need to be able to stand on our own two feet when it comes to our security, support for Ukraine and as champions of democracy in the world.”
The world of environmental NGOs is also concerned.
Chiara Martinelli, Director of Climate Action Network Europe, a leading environmental campaign group in Brussels, has also called for the EU and others to recommit to efforts to tackle global warming even if a Trump presidency brings “more turmoil.”
Martinelli said,
“The EU must increase its efforts to decarbonise, even if Trump gets elected. Increased efforts will not leave any doubt at the international negotiations table that the Paris Agreement implementation is the only way forward to address the global climate emergency. The good thing is that both the political guidelines by the Commission President for her new term, as well as recent ministerial decisions confirm the commitment to advance the climate policy implementation. Ongoing discussions on a clean industrial deal must add a component in terms of steering and supporting future-proof industries which are competitive in a zero-emission and climate resilience future. Moreover, forecasting the potential geopolitical turmoil within another Trump presidential term, there should be a more concerted effort by the EU to wean off fossil fuel imports and look to boost its energy security through reducing energy demand and accelerating the rollout of renewable energy.”
Further comment comes from Mélanie Vogel and Thomas Waitz, co-chairs of the European Green Party.
They said,
“In this crucial moment, Europe needs Kamala Harris as President of the United States, to be a reliable partner and to take the urgent, decisive action needed on the climate crisis, and to bring about a just and sustainable peace in the Middle East.”
Elsewhere, Lagodinsky’s compatriot, David McAllister, Chairman of the European Parliament‘s Foreign Affairs Committee, believes the outcome of the election is of
“enormous importance for us in Europe.”
Current conflicts are, he says,
“deepening geopolitical fault lines and are putting our international partnerships to the test.”
The centre-right politician adds,
“As never before since the end of the Cold War, authoritarian regimes are prepared to use military force to weaken the rules-based international order.
“In this geopolitically tense situation, the US is and will remain our closest ally and partner. The transatlantic friendship must remain a key pillar of European foreign policy. Europe must assume more responsibility in NATO and develop its own military capabilities.”
The MEP is afraid that a second Trump presidency would put transatlantic relations “to the test once more.”
This applies in particular, he goes on,
“to NATO cooperation, to our support of Ukraine and to global trade.”
“During his time in office, Mr Trump was not interested in strengthening the transatlantic partnership. On the contrary: these were four challenging years. We have learned that Trump’s guiding foreign policy principle is unpredictability.”
He continues,
“There are no signs that he intends to change course during a possible second term – this would likely influence his future administration’s Ukraine policy. The European Union has reaffirmed its stance that no initiative to build peace in Ukraine can be taken without the participation of the Ukrainian government. Peace on Putin’s terms that is implemented over the heads of the people of Ukraine is not peace at all.”
McAllister says that cooperation with President Biden’s administration has been “solid, reliable and cooperative” since 2021, adding,
“Our response to the Russian war of aggression and our well-coordinated support for Ukraine have demonstrated this. Kamala Harris wants to continue on this course.”
Europe, he states “must be well prepared for both conceivable election outcomes.”
“In Congress, we should try to ensure a stable future for our transatlantic relations with both the Democrats and the Republicans.
“Ultimately, the 170 million registered US voters will decide who should govern the United States for the next four years. The decisive factor is who can most effectively mobilise voters in this final election phase until November 5.”
Yet more concern about the spectre of a Trump presidency is voiced by veteran Irish MEP Sean Kelly who believes the upcoming U.S. Presidential election
“will certainly impact global stability.”
Kelly says Donald Trump’s presidency was marked by
“unpredictable policies that strained traditional alliances, making US-EU cooperation exceptionally challenging.”
He goes on,
“As Ireland relies on this essential partnership, we benefit from consistent, values-based relationships that promote trade, investment, and economic growth, a second Trump Presidency is not in our interests.
“With wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, the world does not need an erratic President in the White House who appears to favour autocratic regimes over liberal democracies. As Ireland also approaches a general election, I’m hopeful for a ‘Harris’ win on both sides of the Atlantic, with Kamala Harris in the U.S. and Simon Harris here at home.”
Denis MacShane, a former close aide to Tony Blair, firmly believes the US election is still the most important election, not just for Europe but “more widely the world.”
The former Labour front bench politician believes Donald Trump
“incarnates the turn to populist, nationalist, identity, divisive politics.”
He says this has “sunk roots” in Europe with the rise of Marine Le Pen in France, Giorgia Meloni in Italy, Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, Britain’s Nigel Farage, Robert Fico, and Hungary’s Viktor Orban.
Robert Fico, Jarosław Kaczyskni,the AfD in Germany or FPÖ in Austria and VOX in Spain are, he says, other examples.
He says,
“The new sometimes racist, always anti-Muslim, anti-European right have cannibalised mainstream post-1945 centre-right or Christian democratic parties backed by a media owned and controlled by billionaires who reject many of the more social and liberal values and policies that were rooted into Europe’s political culture after 1950.
“Trump represents the European nationalist, exclusionary, right often anti-women and homophobic as in Italy under Meloni or Poland under Kaczynski.”
The former Minister of Europe under Blair, says that Trump is aligned with those, including the so-called Putinversteher in Berlin and Vienna
“who wanted Ukraine to surrender to Putin and accept the return of Russia as a semi-colonial power in the lands of the former USSR.”
“Trump has already sent his factotum Steve Bannon to promote the far-right in Italy and France after he became president in 2016. Trump also enclosed Boris Johnson’s support for Brexit in line with Putin’s geopolitical vision of Europe returning to a network of rival, frontier-closing national states rejecting the partnership, common policies, enforceable laws associated with the EU, the European Court of Justice or the European Human Rights Conventions and European Human Rights Court.”
He fears that Kamala Harris
“does not know Europe”
but goes on to say that her
“political upbringing is rooted in Euro-Atlantic democracy and values.”
“Trump,”
he adds,
“is overtly contemptuous of European values and will seek to deal with EU nation states and the United Kingdom one by one weakening the Euro-Atlantic community of nations at a time when new forces and power – China, India, Russia, the BRICS want a very different world in which might is right and Hindu, Russian, or Sino nationalism prevails.”
