A number of experts attended the Horizon 2030 conference this month, an event hosted in Madrid where policy-makers come together to discuss how to meet the 17 global goals.

US economics professor and advisor to the United Nations Secretary General, Jeffrey D. Sachs, attended the event and put forward a model based on renewable energy sources.

He also called U.S. President Donald Trump "a psychopath" for his suggestion to bring back coal-fired power plants.



As one of the top 10 global goals agreed by world leaders, energy transition is a topic that's on the agendas of pretty much every leading policy-maker in the world.

As well as changes to the way we distribute electricity, it will entail putting a brake on pollution — but most importantly, it calls for energy derived mainly from renewable sources, which isn't exactly the most straightforward task.

More tricky measures, such as the closure of coal-fired power stations, don't just involve practical hurdles; they also pose social and economic challenges — but it's pretty clear to many world leaders that the future of their economies lies in moving away from relying on carbon-based energy sources.

Not all leaders seems clear about the shift away from coal

In order to fulfill pledges he made to voters in states such as West Virginia and Wyoming, Trump has previously tried to roll back rules on climate change and the environment that were implemented during the Obama administration.

The plans outlined last year would originally allow states to relax pollution rules for power plants that need upgrades, and would reverse an Obama-era push to shift away from coal and toward less-polluting energy sources.

The eventual closure of coal-fired power stations doesn't just entail practical hurdles; it also poses social and economic challenges. Getty Images/Kevin Frayer

At "Horizons 2030", a conference in Madrid, US economics professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, who advised the United Nations Secretary General on the Sustainable Development Goals, had some strong words to say about Trump's ideas about coal as an energy source.

As well as saying that "nothing" had happened on a global level in the past three years, Sachs described the president of the United States, Donald Trump, as "a psychopath" for suggesting a return to an energy model based on coal, as well as for withdrawing the United States' support from the Paris Agreement.

Sachs' criticisms lie in the need for clear leadership to carry out this shift towards photovoltaic and wind energy system: "Somehow we're trying to make a global change with no one in charge. It used to be America; now we have a president who's a psychopath," he said, according to a Business Insider España report.

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The economist even went as far as accusing Trump of "trying to revive the nineteenth century" and made it clear that, in his three years in office, the president of the United States hadn't made any progress on this front simply as companies aren't interested and are fully aware "they have to lose".

Manuel Pulgar Vidal, leader of the Climate and Energy Practice of WWF International, was quick to support Sach's comments, saying: "In just fourteen days, American businessmen said that they were still in the Paris Agreement. That means that the economy and the market are looking to leave coal behind.

He also stressed that this isn't just a response to a trend; it means the private sector has understood the need for action as regards climate change.

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According to data from Reuters and the US Energy Information Administration, more coal-fired power plants were shut down during Trump's first two years than throughout the whole of Obama's first term.

Pulgar Vidal underlined the importance of planning and implementing adequate measures to manage and mitigate the social impact of the transition away from coal, referring directly to the European Commission's goals to "decarbonise" by 2050: "We know they [coal plants] are going to disappear from the economy ... the question is how to transition in such a way that maintains employment and salaries".