Donald Trump will be the next US president. This is a man who has promised to 鈥溾��, for United Nations climate change programmes, and rollback the 鈥溾�� Obama administration regulations to cut power plant emissions.
Trump swept to victory last night after defying party orthodoxy on many issues, shocking conservatives with his many off-the-cuff remarks. But he has directly echoed the party鈥檚 line which plays down climate change and talks up energy from fossil fuels.
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During his campaign, he made a speech to the oil industry which was a sign that he was seeking to capitalise on financial support from powerful fossil fuel concerns. His call to roll back industry regulations also deepened his appeal to voters in oil, gas and coal-producing states such as Pennsylvania where he did well last night.
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Incoherent approach
A Trump presidency will be a reality next year and it poses an existential threat qualitatively different from past Republicans who have doubted climate change. It may set in motion a wave of political and economic crises, creating global turmoil that would fatally disrupt efforts to tackle this issue in the US and abroad.
That possibility was why international negotiators urgently the UN Paris agreement, succeeding in making it legally binding before Trump takes office. Despite this, Trump鈥檚 victory could cripple international progress in other ways.
To meet the aggressive targets set at Paris, countries will have to substantially ratchet up efforts to end reliance on fossil fuels over the next few years. At the very moment when the world needs US leadership on this, Trump鈥檚 incoherence on climate and energy policy and his outright disgust for global collaboration is set to have a severe chilling effect on progress.
In past comments, he has said he is 鈥溾��, declaring that climate change is a 鈥溾�� and 鈥溾��, 鈥溾�� to hurt US manufacturing. On energy policy, he has when asked about specifics, even fumbling the name of the US Environmental Protection Agency, .
Condoning violence
The broader disruption of Trump鈥檚 presidency will do even greater damage, weakening efforts to create a sense of urgency on climate change. His campaign brought public discourse in the US to its ugliest level, as he traded in trash talk and outrageous insults, spreading falsehood and innuendo, fomenting bigotry and prejudice.
He threatened the censure of critics in the media, even condoning violence against protesters, calling them . His success has emboldened far right and ultra-nationalist movements in the US and across Europe, risking further destabilisation.
At home, if Trump holds to his talk of restricting Muslims from entering the US, erecting a wall at the Mexican border and , this will provoke widespread protest and civil unrest.
Abroad, Trump鈥檚 bravado and reckless unpredictability, his vow to renegotiate trade deals and to walk away from security alliances will generate deep tensions with China, Russia and Europe, risking financial collapse and military conflict.
In the midst of such dysfunction and upheaval, the glimmer of hope offered by the historic climate change pact agreed to in Paris last year could forever fade as a result of last night鈥檚 outcome.
