US energy chief threatens IEA withdrawal over climate focus

Friday 20 February 2026 - 07:50

By: Dakir Madiha

US energy chief threatens IEA withdrawal over climate focus

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has warned that Washington could pull out of the International Energy Agency unless the body sharply scales back its work on climate change and returns its focus to traditional energy security. Speaking after a two‑day ministerial meeting in Paris, Wright said the United States would use “all the pressure we have” to push the IEA to abandon its net‑zero emissions agenda within a year, describing net zero as a “destructive illusion” with “zero percent chance” of being achieved. He argued that much of the agency’s recent work has been driven by what he called a “climate cult” focused on “energy subtraction” rather than on reliable supply, and insisted the organization had been “tainted” by climate politics.

Wright, a former fracking executive, said the IEA was founded in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis to coordinate responses to supply shocks and should concentrate again on energy access, affordability and security. He praised Executive Director Fatih Birol for reinstating a “Current Policies Scenario” in the agency’s November 2025 World Energy Outlook, which models rising oil and gas demand after several years in which such a trajectory was not included, but said the IEA still has “a long way to go” to meet US expectations. Birol has defended the Paris‑based agency as “data‑driven” and “non‑political,” pointing to its role in producing monthly oil market reports and long‑term energy outlooks covering renewables, fossil fuels and efficiency trends.

European ministers used the Paris meetings to signal resistance to Washington’s push. UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband announced an additional £12 million for the IEA’s Clean Energy Transitions Programme, declaring that “the age of electricity is unstoppable” and calling clean power the most secure, cost‑effective long‑term way to meet demand for many countries. French Economy Minister Roland Lescure stressed that for states without large domestic oil reserves, electrification is the strategic answer to reducing energy dependence, while President Emmanuel Macron separately warned that fossil fuel reliance is a “vulnerability” for Europe. The split meant the 2026 ministerial, chaired by Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Sophie Hermans, ended without a traditional joint communiqué for the first time since 2017, instead issuing a chair’s summary that did not require unanimous approval.

Wright acknowledged that a US withdrawal could open space for China and other countries to gain influence over the agency but said Washington’s objective is to reshape the IEA from within, not to leave. The United States currently provides around 18 percent of the organization’s budget, making it one of its largest funders. His intervention comes as President Donald Trump has ordered the US withdrawal from a long‑standing UN climate treaty and moved to exit dozens of international climate‑related bodies, arguing they no longer serve American interests. Wright has also questioned mainstream climate science during his Paris visit, asserting that “nothing in the climate data” justifies claims of imminent catastrophic damage, a stance that has drawn criticism from scientists who say deep emissions cuts are needed to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.