![]() ![]() I can’t say that.”īut Timmermans dampened expectations for Cop27, the next global climate summit taking place this November in Sharm el-Sheikh. “How can we not face the immediate challenge of having to find alternatives for Russian gas, and saying to others: ‘You should not be exploiting gas.’ That would be hypocritical. “In this global situation right now, with the huge shortage of fossil fuel, how can you say to anyone who has fossil fuels: ‘You should not be exploiting that.’” he asked. He also gave qualified support for the expansion of fossil fuel exploration in parts of Africa that civil society leaders have already warned would lock Africa into a high-emissions future without benefiting ordinary people. Timmermans, who is in charge of the EU’s green deal and leads the bloc in international climate negotiations, insisted that a short-term return to fossil fuels was compatible with limiting global temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, the goal affirmed at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow last November. The European parliament also voted this week to class some gas and nuclear power projects as “clean” energy for investment purposes, to the dismay of climate campaigners who worry the climate agenda has been lost amid fears over energy prices. Olaf Scholz, Germany’s chancellor, also insisted that the G7 reverse its stance on banning overseas investment in gas projects to assist in the exploration of new fossil fuel fields in developing countries. The German government has started to increase electricity production from coal-fired power stations, the dirtiest form of energy, while allowing the phaseout of nuclear power to continue as planned. Overall, Europe depends on Russia for about 40% of its gas. Before Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, Germany – the EU’s biggest economy – relied on Russia for the majority of its gas. “If we were just to say no more coal right now, we wouldn’t be very convincing in some of our member states and we would contribute to tensions within our society getting even higher.”Įnergy prices have soared across the world as a result of the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine, but Europe has been particularly badly hit. “Putin is using all the means he has to create strife in our societies, so we have to brace ourselves for a very difficult period.”Ĭoal would have to be used, he said. “I honestly believe that if we can’t give that guarantee then society is on edge, as it is everywhere because of high energy prices, inflation, food prices rising rapidly – because of this uncertainty caused by the war,” he said. Timmermans said his goal was to reassure the public of the EU, by 1 November at the latest, that they would not face a crisis in heating their homes this winter. “I’ve been in politics long enough, over 30 years, to understand that people worry most about the immediate crisis and not about the long-term crisis And if we don’t address the immediate crisis, we will certainly be off-track with the long-term crisis,” he said. ![]() People suffering from the cold this winter because they cannot afford heating would also be disastrous for solving the climate crisis, Timmermans argued in an interview with the Guardian in Brussels. “We need to make sure we keep our industry, as much as possible, functioning because the one thing that could help Putin is divisions in our society.” ![]() We’re certainly not going to get where we need to get if the lack of energy leads to strong disruption in our societies, and we need to make sure people are not in the cold in the coming winter. He said: “If our society descends into very, very strong conflict and strife because there is no energy, we’re certainly not going to make our goals. ![]()
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