SINGAPORE: The disruption to energy markets caused by the Iran war is an “abject lesson” in the risks of relying on fossil fuels, and underscores the case for governments to wean their economies off oil and gas, the United Nations (UN) climate secretary tells European Union (EU) policymakers.
While geographically far from the crisis in the Middle East, the EU has felt its disruption through surging global energy prices. European gas prices have jumped by 50% during the two-week war.
“Fossil fuel dependency is ripping away national security and sovereignty, and replacing it with subservience and rising costs,” Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN climate change arm, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, told EU officials and government ministers.
“Europe is more reliant on fossil fuel imports than almost any other major economy,” Stiell said in prepared remarks that warned reliance on fossil fuels was leaving consumers “at the mercy of geopolitical shocks and price volatility”.
The EU imports more than 90% of its oil and 80% of its gas.
EU leaders are hurriedly drafting emergency measures to shield consumers from the energy price spike, and avoid a repeat of Europe’s 2022 energy crisis, when Russia slashed gas deliveries, sending prices to record highs.
In the longer term, the European Commission said its climate change strategy to replace fossil fuels with locally-produced renewable and nuclear energy will secure countries’ energy security, and cut them free from volatile fuel prices. — Reuters
