Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS, March 16 (Reuters) – The U.N. climate secretary will tell EU policymakers on Monday that the damage to energy markets caused by Iran’s war is a “hard lesson” in the risks of reliance on fossil fuels, stressing the need for governments to wean their economies off oil and gas.
Although geographically distant from the crisis in the Middle East, the EU is already feeling the damage from soaring global energy prices. During the two weeks of war, European gas prices rose by 50%.
“Dependence on fossil fuels is stripping away national security and sovereignty, replacing it with subservience and rising costs,” Simon Steele, executive secretary of the United Nations’ climate change arm, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, will tell EU officials and government ministers at an event in Brussels.
“Europe is more reliant on fossil fuel imports than almost any other major economy,” Steele said in prepared remarks, warning that reliance on fossil fuels would leave consumers “vulnerable to geopolitical shocks and price fluctuations.”
The EU relies on imports for more than 90% of its oil and more than 80% of its natural gas.
EU leaders are scrambling to draft emergency measures to protect consumers from soaring energy prices and avoid a repeat of Europe’s energy crisis in 2022, when Russia slashed gas supplies, sending prices to record highs.
In the long term, the European Commission said its climate change strategy to replace fossil fuels with locally produced renewable and nuclear energy would ensure countries’ energy security and insulate them from volatile fuel prices.
But governments including Italy and Hungary are urging Brussels to weaken its climate change policies and provide short-term cost relief to industry.
Steele warned that doing so was “completely delusional” and argued that a shift to renewables such as wind and solar would mean cheaper energy, jobs in the clean tech industry and secure supplies.
“Modest dependence on fossil fuel imports will keep Europe in crisis forever,” Steele said.
“Renewable energy saves the day. Sunlight is not dependent on narrow and fragile shipping straits.”
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)