How Trump’s ‘drill, baby, drill’ pledge is affecting other countries

The UN local weather summit within the United Arab Emirates in 2023 ended with a name to “transition away from fossil fuels”. It was applauded as a historic milestone in world local weather motion.

Barely a yr later, nonetheless, there are fears that the worldwide dedication could also be dropping momentum as the expansion of unpolluted vitality transition is slowing down whereas burning of fossil fuels continues to rise.

And now there’s US President Donald Trump’s “national energy emergency”, embracing fossil fuels and ditching clear vitality insurance policies – that has additionally begun to affect some nations and vitality firms already.

In response to Trump’s “drill, child, drill” slogan aimed at ramping up fossil fuel extraction and the US notifying the UN of its withdrawal from the Paris local weather settlement, Indonesia, as an illustration, has hinted that it might comply with swimsuit.

“If america doesn’t wish to adjust to the worldwide settlement, why ought to a rustic like Indonesia adjust to it?” requested Hashim Djojohadikusumo, particular envoy for local weather change and vitality of Indonesia, as reported by the country’s government-run news agency Antara.

Indonesia has remained within the record of prime 10 carbon-emitting nations for years now.

“Indonesia produces three tons of carbon [per person a year] whereas the US produces 13 tons,” he requested on the ESG Sustainable Discussion board 2025 in Jakarta on 31 January.

“But we’re those being informed to shut our energy crops… So, the place is the sense of justice right here?”

Nithi Nesadurai, director with Local weather Motion Community Southeast Asia, stated the alerts from her area had been regarding.

She stated the richest “richest nation and the biggest oil producer on the earth” rising its manufacturing provides different states “a straightforward excuse to extend their very own – which they’re already doing”.

In South Africa, Africa’s greatest financial system and a serious carbon emitter, a $8.5bn foreign-aided transition challenge from the coal-sector was already shifting at a snail’s tempo, and now there are fears that it might get derailed additional.

Wikus Kruger, director of Energy Futures Lab on the College of Cape City, stated there was a “risk” that decommissioning of outdated coal-fired energy stations could be “additional delayed”.

Nonetheless he stated that whereas there was some “stroll again” from transition to renewables, there was nonetheless progress within the clear vitality sector that was anticipated to proceed.

Argentina withdrew its negotiators from the COP29 local weather assembly in Baku final November, days after Trump gained the US presidency. It has since adopted Trump’s lead in signalling it can withdraw from the Paris Settlement of 2015 – which underpins world efforts to fight local weather change.

“We now count on our oil and gasoline manufacturing to go up,” Enrique Viale, president of Argentine Affiliation of Environmental Attorneys informed the BBC.

“President Milei has hinted that he intends to withdraw from the Paris Settlement and has stated the environmentalism is a part of the woke agenda.”

Meanwhile, energy giant Equinor has just announced it’s halving funding in renewable vitality over the following two years whereas rising oil and gasoline manufacturing and one other oil main BP is predicted to make similar announcement soon.

Trump has not simply stated “drill, child, drill” however he has additionally stated: “We’ll export American vitality everywhere in the world.”

Potential overseas consumers are already lining up.

India and the US have agreed to significantly increase the availability of American oil and gasoline to the Indian market.

On the finish of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US go to on 14 February, the 2 nations issued a joint statement that “reaffirmed” the US could be “a number one provider of crude oil and petroleum merchandise and liquified pure gasoline to India”.

A couple of days after Trump’s inauguration, South Korea, the world’s third largest liquified pure gasoline importer, has hinted its intention to purchase extra American oil and gasoline aimed toward decreasing commerce surplus with the US and enhancing vitality safety, international media have reported from Seoul.

Officers with Japan’s largest energy generator, JERA, have informed Reuters they too wish to improve buy of liquefied pure gasoline from the US to diversify provide because it presently imports half of it from the Asia Pacific area.

“There may be definitely a risk that if the U.S. seeks to both flood markets with low cost fossil fuels, or bully nations into shopping for extra of its fossil fuels, or each, the worldwide vitality transition could be slowed,” stated Lorne Stockman, analysis director with Oil Change Worldwide, a analysis and advocacy organisation for transition to wash vitality.

Scientists have stated there could be no new fossil gas extraction and there must be a fast discount of carbon emissions (round 45% by 2030 from 2019 degree) if the world is to restrict warming to 1.5 Celsius in comparison with pre-industrial interval.

“The economics of vitality provide are a key driver of decarbonization,” stated David Brown, director of vitality transition follow at Wooden Mackenzie, a world vitality think-tank.

“The useful resource base of US vitality helps the function of pure gasoline and liquids manufacturing. In contrast, import-dependent economies similar to China, India, and people in Southeast Asia have a dramatic financial incentive to decarbonise sources of vitality.”

International vitality transition funding has surpassed $2tn for the primary time final yr however studies have additionally proven that the growth of clean energy transition has markedly slowed lately whereas many main banks continue to finance fossil fuels.