Countries at the UN Cop 29 climate summit in Baku, Azerbaijan, need to double down their efforts to fight climate change even if the US withdraws from the Paris Agreement, US energy secretary Jennifer Granholm said.
Granholm pointed out that seven years ago, when the US government abandoned international cooperation on climate, the international stage stepped forward to lead climate efforts. US states and cities also stepped up to fill the void left by the absence of federal policy, she told delegates at a high-level meeting. "Climate has never been only about the US, it has been about all of us", adding that no other country should think about pulling out of the Paris accord.
Granholm highlighted that the country's policies to support the clean energy economy will ensure that investment in clean energy technologies will continue in the US. Her comments were in line with US climate advisor John Podesta's earlier this week.
"We are keeping the US climate movement alive by taking every action available thanks to a strategy that lays the foundation for decades of climate and clean energy progress that will continue to grow faster than ever before." she said.
The US is projected to add more than 60GW of clean energy in 2024, more than twice the amount achieved in a previous year, according to Granholm.
She added that the US has invested over $1.5 trillion in clean technologies and infrastructure as a result of this industrial strategy. With businesses and consumers investing $6 for every dollar of federal investment.
