“It’s a runaway court. It is a court that has taken upon itself to essentially legislate from the bench, which is something that conservatives have long decried.”

Granholm is concerned that it suggested the court was open to hearing future cases that could further curtail the Biden administrations efforts to act on climate.

She acknowledged the difficulties the administration has faced shepherding legislation through the senate, but said US partners she spoke with around the world, “understand the political dynamics in the senate, and that it is difficult to get almost any piece of legislation through”.

Where once the Biden administration boasted of its trillion dollar climate plans, she emphasised its recent success in passing a bill that would see $US 62 billion ($91.5 billion) worth of funds delivered to her department for next-generation clean energy technologies.

As to Europe, Granholm believes that Vladimir Putin’s “weaponisation” of its rich supply of fossil fuels will ultimately increase the continent’s efforts to transition to a renewable energy system, just as she is satisfied that UK energy minister Kwasi Kwarteng remains determined to back ambitious zero-emissions targets.

In Sydney, Granholm and Energy Minister Chris Bowen signed an agreement on Tuesday to cooperate on the acceleration of clean tech development. Granholm and International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol raised the danger to world energy security of China’s increasing dominance of the supply chains of renewable energy resources and technology.

“What we’ve seen in Russia is that it is very dangerous to have a monopoly on supply, because it will be weaponised, or could be vulnerable to being weaponised.”

She said creating diversification of energy sources, particularly through co-operation with like-minded nations like Australia, was a strategic strength.

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.