Since 2009, the US environmental agency EPA has worked based on the so-called "endangerment finding" - a decision that classified six greenhouse gases as a danger to public health.
Now US President Donald Trump has rescinded the decision. At the same time, greenhouse gas emission standards for vehicles are being rolled back.
This means that a large part of the EPA's powers in this area will disappear, according to Mathias Fridahl, who is an assistant professor at Linköping University.
There are major risks surrounding Trump's now clear desire to pursue short-term profits in the fossil-fuel economy, he says.
Classifying greenhouse gases as harmful has given the agency much greater room for maneuver. Now that is disappearing.
“A big scam”
On Thursday, Donald Trump called the decision "the biggest deregulation in American history" and dismissed the scientific basis behind the 2009 ruling as "a big hoax."
It is rhetoric that could have major consequences, Mathias Fridahl fears.
He and his administration are expressing much clearer climate skepticism and greater contempt for science than during the last term, he says.
He is taking a completely different direction.
“Making a mess”
However, it is difficult to predict how much impact the American decisions will have in the long term, according to Mathias Fridahl.
However, Donald Trump's policies have already had a major impact on international climate work, not least when it comes to the financing of various collaborations.
When such a large player drops out of the joint effort, it is clear that it will cause problems, says Mathias Fridahl.
In the coming years, we must find new ways to pursue climate leadership and a climate policy that is more resilient to such geopolitical changes.
