Officially, the energy transition remains the priority. But to get rid of Russian fuels and respond to the flight of energy prices, large savings are already seeking to revive the production of coal, oil and gas.
By
“We walk the eyes closed to the climate catastrophe” and the war in Ukraine reinforces this “madness”. In a warning more striking, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, has summarized the concern of many observers: does the conflict open by Russia risks a fatal blow to the ambition climate?
While the world is shaken by the outbreak of energy prices and the need to get rid of its dependence on Russian fossils as quickly as possible, governments face a unprecedented challenge: acting in the short term , to guarantee hundreds of millions of citizens the opportunity to continue to heat and operate their economies, while accelerating efforts to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
In the immediate future, the priority of great economies is to revive the production of coal, oil and gas to replace the millions of barrels exported every day by the Russians. “These short-term measurements may create long-term dependence on fossil fuels and make it impossible to limit the climate warming to 1.5 ° C., warned Mr. Guterres, Monday, March 21. The “obsolete” countries by this supply could “neglect or kneel the policies to reduce the use of” these same fuels.
At the end of a meeting of Energy Ministers, Thursday, March 24, the Director General of the International Energy Agency (IEA) expressed the same concerns. “We must extremely pay attention to what the fight against climate change is not a new victim of the War conducted by Russia,” said Fatih Birol. The energy sector is at a historic turning point. The fears concerning the Supply security must be an additional element to push us to reach our climatic ambitions. “
Four months after the Glasgow Climate Conference (COP26), the objective of limiting climate warming to 1.5 ° C, provided for by the Paris Agreement, is now “under respiratory assistance”, according to Antonio Guterres. CO emissions 2 energy sector jumped last year, 6%, to reach a historical record and should still increase by 14% by 2030 – if the country apply their climate plans – while it should be reduced by 45%.
“The worst scenario”
“Officially, no country takes refuge behind the war in Ukraine to call into question its climatic goals, but in fact, some will want to further exploit their fossil resources. Keeping the course is a huge challenge,” recognizes a diplomat Western, who participated in three days of G20 working meeting in Indonesia in the middle of the week. Russia is the only country to announce that it could not fulfill its commitments (to reduce its net emissions by 80% by 2050 compared to 1900) due to international sanctions.
You have 75.65% of this article to be read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.