While the risk of lost investment in Europe is clear, some delegates said it was more important to praise Washington for its massive investment plans in clean energy and technology, after the country has been berated in the past for not taking enough action on the climate.
“In my opinion, the Inflation Reduction Act is by far the most important climate action after the 2015 Paris Agreement,” Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said in an interview. “I understand that many countries, including the European countries, see that it may pose some challenges for them.”
While they have legitimate concerns, he added: “I would say Europe can develop its own clean energy industrial framework as a complementary tool.”
Andrea Fuder, head of purchasing for Volvo Group, the Swedish company that builds trucks, buses and construction equipment in the United States and other locations around the world, said her company appreciated the U.S. law and expected it would help the company be just to reach zero goals.
“There is some noise in Europe about it now, but I think it is now up to the European Union to find good answers to that,” said Ms Fuder.
Ann Mettler, the vice president for Europe at Breakthrough Energy, an investment fund backed by Bill Gates, and a former director general at the European Commission, praised the Inflation Reduction Act for its simplicity and said it made a lot of sense because the United States should “accelerate the energy transition” and move production of essential clean technologies away from China.
The law should lead to an investment boom in the United States, Ms. Mettler predicted, and possibly breakthroughs in emerging technologies such as green hydrogen.
