An international summit on the future of energy security opened in London on Thursday.
Several energy ministers from European countries attended the gathering, including 120 senior government officials, business leaders, and experts.
The United States was only represented by acting deputy secretaries of state, while China, Saudi Arabia and Russia skipped the event altogether.
“Some want to regulate every form of energy besides the so-called renewables, completely out of existence… We oppose these harmful and dangerous policies. This is not energy security,” Tommy Joyce, US Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy for International Affairs, told the conference.
That contrasted to a more moderate message from IEA executive director Fatih Birol in opening remarks at the summit, co-hosted by the UK.
“Every economy has its own pathway for energy. We should understand and respect it,” he said.
Birol added also that “oil and gas are key parts of our energy mix, and they will remain as part of the energy mix in years to come.”
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries has welcomed the meeting.
“The overall theme is one that OPEC supports. It is positive to see the IEA refocusing on energy security after veering away from this fundamental goal,” the group said on Wednesday.
“Many net zero policies have endorsed unrealistic timelines or had little regard for energy security, affordability or feasibility,” said OPEC, which has previously described the phasing out of fossil fuels as a “fantasy”.
OPEC, whose membership is dominated by oil-producing Gulf states, believes that energy security must be achieved by adding renewable energy sources to existing fossil fuels, not by replacing them.
In the United States, Trump has repeatedly stated that he wants to lower energy prices with a “drill baby drill” approach in oil and gas fields, while limiting the development of wind power projects.
According to a source at a major European energy company, the IEA and Birol have moderated their rhetoric toward renewables in recent months.
The idea is to “avoid antagonizing the Trump administration and to calm things down a little with OPEC”, this source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.