Mnuchin had a day earlier dismissed Thunberg’s suggestion that governments and companies cut back dramatically on fossil fuels with a condescending barb.

Mnuchin, in Davos, Switzerland, suggested Thunberg should study economics before advocating for climate change solutions, but an economist says she’s right.

Two U.S. agencies say the decade that just ended was also capped off by the second-warmest year on record.