US plan to provide 15bn cubic meters of natural gas to EU alarms climate groups

The increased gas exports from the US will escalate further, with the EU aiming to get 50bn cubic meters of gas a year from America and other countries in order to reduce its reliance upon Russia after its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

But environmental groups have reacted to the agreement with alarm, arguing that it will help embed years of future gas use at a time when scientists say the world must rapidly phase out the use of fossil fuels to avoid catastrophic climate change.

The US has in recent years become a net exporter of energy, with fracking technology helping draw upon its huge reserves of gas. When frozen into LNG, this gas can be loaded on to ships and exported around the world. The US is already running at near capacity for the amount it is able to ship out.

The US and EU have pledged to work together to push forward approvals for solar and wind projects, plug leaks from gas pipelines that spew methane, a potent greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere and work on energy efficiency measures that will reduce demand for fossil fuels.

But climate activists warn time is running out to avoid disastrous global heating. The International Energy Agency has said that no new fossil fuel infrastructure can be built worldwide if the planet is to avoid 1.5C of heating above the pre-industrial era, a point beyond which scientists say will dramatically increase dangerous heatwaves, flooding, droughts, wildfires and displacement of people.