This time it’s different. Since Donald Trump came to office in January, he has fought a remorseless battle against any move to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Some of his efforts have hit home in the US, where large solar projects have been pointlessly cancelled and important weather and data services gutted. Cuts to US foreign aid have hurt climate programmes in developing countries.
But last week’s regrettable derailment of a landmark global deal to cut shipping emissions is one of Trump’s most successful attempts yet to force all countries, rich and poor, to back his push to prolong the era of fossil fuels.
The decision to defer adoption of the deal for a year is likely to have immediate effects on an industry that has long escaped internationally co-ordinated climate measures even though it accounts for around 3 per cent of global emissions, roughly the same as Japan. That share is forecast to rise sharply without action.