BAKU, AZERBAIJAN – As international climate negotiations continue at COP29, global leaders are calling on President Biden to complete his review of LNG export terminals and reject pending LNG permits before leaving office. With Trump pledging to “unleash” unlimited LNG exports, European parliamentarians, and energy experts emphasize that expanded U.S. exports are both unnecessary for energy security and dangerous for the climate.

“The US can count on plummeting LNG demand from Europe. According to our forecasts, the continent has most likely passed peak LNG consumption. The transition to diversified energy sources and away from LNG in Europe is happening,” said Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz, Lead Energy Analyst, Europe, IEEFA.

The statement comes at a critical moment, as President Biden faces crucial decisions on five pending export terminals before Trump takes office. Europe’s gas demand continues to decline as renewable energy expands, with EU analysis showing oil and gas demand will fall by one-third by 2030.

EU leaders now urge the Biden Administration to listen to frontline leaders and climate advocates in the US, and take prompt action to conclude the DOE’s analysis of LNG exports and reject all pending LNG permits to curb the damage that Trump can do.

“The EU has already initiated its gas phase out,” said Linda Kalcher, Executive Director of Strategic Perspectives. “European governments and companies are massively scaling up renewables-based solutions as it’s the best economic and energy security choice. New LNG investments will be a white elephant US investors will live to regret.”

The U.S. is already exceeding its LNG commitments to Europe while reports show current export capacity is more than sufficient to meet allied needs. In Azerbaijan, where this year’s COP is being held, recent data shows that gas supply from the country will double by 2027, through the Southern Gas Corridor pipeline. Meanwhile, environmental justice communities along the Gulf Coast continue bearing the burden of export infrastructure.

Additional Statements from International Spokespeople below: 

“Japanese domestic demand for LNG is declining. Yet the Japanese government and companies are heavily involved in the U.S. LNG business and these companies sell off excessive LNG to other countries for profit,” said Ayumi Fukakusa, Deputy Executive Director at Friends of the Earth Japan. “LNG has nothing to do with Japan’s energy security — it makes other countries’ energy security worse, making them dependent on volatile gas. Biden’s pause on LNG export permit is a right direction to go and Japan must also commit to stop expanding LNG for people and climate.” 

“With wind and solar now the cheapest energy sources and Europe’s gas demand falling, investments in new LNG infrastructure make totally no sense. A “drill, baby, drill” agenda likely to make a comeback and right-wing EU forces backing fossil gas expansion directly contradicts the COP28 pledge to transition away from fossil fuels. Adding US LNG export capacity is needless and harmful. While the world sees increasing floods, heatwaves, fires and droughts, LNG fuels severe climate impacts and acts as a curse for local communities, especially in exporting countries, where leads to human rights violations and environmental devastation. As COP29 nears, the EU and the Biden Administration must reject fossil gas “security” myths and instead commit to a 100% clean and just energy transition.” Enrico Donda, gas campaigner at Food & Water Action Europe. 

“In recent years, the EU has committed itself to speeding up the energy transition, notably by stepping up energy efficiency measures, accelerating the deployment of renewable energies and, for the first time, adopting a policy of sufficiency, with a target to reduce gas consumption by 15%. We can do with less in the EU pipes ! But at the same time, however, we have increased our imports of LNG. This is nothing more than a new dependency: on American gas, the vast majority of which is shale gas, which has an impact on the health of local populations and the climate, but also on gas from Azerbaijan. This dependency has led Europe to turn a blind eye to the atrocities currently taking place in Armenia! We need to open our eyes to the reality : we can and must do without LNG: this gas has blood on its pipes and fuels war and human rights abuses!” Marie Toussaint, French Member of the European Parliament

“In Austria we agreed to achieve climate neutrality by 2040. The European Union aims for climate neutrality 10 years later than we do. In any case, the bottom line is that we will be phasing out the use of fossil gas in the next 25 years in Europe—which should not be ignored by our transatlantic partners. If we all take our international commitments seriously—commitments that were strengthened at the last climate conference in Dubai—we must not invest in the long-term expansion of ever more LNG capacity. There is no alternative to a fossil fuel phaseout,” said Lukas Hammer, Member of the Austrian Parliament (the Greens) and chair of the Environmental Committee. “More and more LNG export facilities—and E.U. import facilities for that matter—will become stranded assets, and the money invested in them, which should have been invested in renewable energy and energy efficiency, will be lost.”

“Trump will try massively to allow fracking and build new LNG export terminals. We must now stand together more than ever with the affected communities. Germany and Europe urgently need a gas exit plan and must stop buying fracked gas from the USA. During the COP, it is now all the more important to tighten the methane pledge. The global expansion of the LNG infrastructure must be stopped!” German Green MP Kathrin Henneberger, Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on International Climate and Energy Policy and Member of Committee on Climate Protection and Energy

“EU companies are signing long-term contracts with US companies and EU banks are investing in LNG export terminals in the USA. The main burden of these irresponsible investments is borne by low-income communities and already discriminated groups in the United States. A stakeholder dialog between German energy companies and NGOs has revealed: LNG – especially fracked gas – fuels global warming and has significant human rights risks and they must be urgently addressed. This is another reason for an intensive review of the global LNG strategy.” Andy Gheorghiu, coordinator of the transatlantic anti-LNG network. 

Recent analysis shows:

Available for Interview:

  • European energy policy experts
  • Climate scientists
  • Gulf Coast community leaders
  • Environmental justice advocates
  • Global climate policy analysts

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