Although a rapid reduction in global greenhouse-gas emissions was already needed to address climate change, the task has become doubly urgent in response to Russia's territorial aggression and weaponization of energy supplies. Achieving net-zero emissions must now be a central objective of defense and security policy.
BRUSSELS – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced the European Union to accelerate the pace of our energy and climate policy. Since the Kremlin has increasingly used energy as a tool for political influence, we must deprive it of its leverage by radically reducing our dependence on fossil-fuel imports from Russia.
The geopolitical rationale for doing so overlaps with the imperative to tackle climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s latest report on mitigation underscores the urgency of that task. Total greenhouse-gas emissions must peak by 2025 if we are to avoid a catastrophic increase in global temperatures. Moreover, the economy-wide shift to clean energy must be managed carefully to account for the inevitable social and economic consequences; it must be a “just transition.”
The EU and the European Investment Bank have a vital role to play in this transition. Investments in renewables, energy efficiency, and innovative technologies such as green hydrogen are important tools for dealing with Russia’s aggression and helping to save the planet from dependence on fossil fuels. Every euro we spend on the energy transition at home is a euro we keep out of the hands of an authoritarian power that wages aggressive war. Every euro we spend on clean energy enhances our freedom to make our own decisions. Every euro we spend helping our international partners accelerate their own decarbonization strategies is an investment in resilience and in the fight against climate change.
Since Russia’s invasion on February 24, the EU has been accelerating its energy transition plans to help end Europe’s reliance on Russian fossil-fuel imports as soon as possible. Although this will not happen overnight, the incentives to do so are now greater than ever. We can achieve energy independence by improving efficiency, diversifying supplies, and ramping up renewables. This process requires a mobilization at all levels – from supranational bodies down to households and individuals.
There are two important caveats to consider. First, the search for alternative suppliers of natural gas – critical as it is in the short term – must not lock us into a new long-term dependence that requires heavy investments in fossil-fuel infrastructure. That would be costly, catastrophic for the planet, and ultimately unnecessary, given the more climate-conscious options that are available.
Second, we must not trade one bottleneck for another by swapping our over-dependence on fossil fuels for over-dependency on raw materials needed for the green transition. These resources are heavily concentrated in just a handful of countries, not all of which hold the same values and interests as the EU. Strengthening the EU’s strategic autonomy and resilience must remain a key objective of the transition.
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Europe cannot do this alone. Winning the battle against climate change and standing up to Russian aggression are global challenges that demand a global response. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war has strengthened the strategic rationale for all countries to reduce their fossil-fuel imports and invest more in climate-friendly energy solutions.
That is why the EU is actively engaged in climate diplomacy. We want to encourage others to raise their climate ambitions, and we have committed considerable resources to working with partner countries so that they, too, can move to a resilient net-zero-emissions economy. Through the European Green Deal and the EU’s new Global Gateway initiative, EU institutions and member states are mobilizing up to €300 billion ($325 billion) of investment in green and digital infrastructure to address the climate, biodiversity, and energy crises.
Moreover, the EIB has pledged to support €1 trillion of investment in climate action and environmental sustainability by 2030. Through its new development arm, EIB Global, the bank is working with partners around the world to mobilize finance for energy efficiency, renewables, and electricity grid projects.
Working as part of the EU’s joint effort under Team Europe, the EIB’s support for a clean-energy future ranges from investing in solar power in Senegal to financing more energy-efficient kindergartens in Armenia. The bank has also helped forge a Just Energy Transition Partnership with South Africa; provided backing for the India-based International Solar Alliance, which supports solar power development across 105 tropical countries; and signed on to an integrated water management and flood prevention scheme in Argentina.
The EU stands ready to support the global community in ending its dependency on fossil fuels. Russia’s war on Ukraine is not a reason to delay investments in climate action. On the contrary, more green investment will give us more strategic autonomy. Decarbonization has become a geopolitical imperative. We call on our global partners in government and across international financial institutions to join us in accelerating finance for clean energy. By pursuing climate neutrality, we can also achieve energy security.
Enjoy unlimited access to the ideas and opinions of the world’s leading thinkers, including long reads, book reviews, topical collections, short-form analysis and predictions, and exclusive interviews; every new issue of the PS Quarterly magazine (print and digital); the complete PS archive; and more. Subscribe now to PS Premium.
Writing for PS since 2020 16 Commentaries
Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, is Vice President of the European Commission for a Stronger Europe in the World.
Writing for PS since 2017 13 Commentaries
Werner Hoyer is President of the European Investment Bank.
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At the present state of technology solar/wind grid is a natural gas grid that uses less gas when wind blows and the sun shines. This is why Germany wanted Nord Stream II and this is also why Germany is so sensitive to the issue of Russian gas supply. There is no climate crisis. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere not only causes no harm but brings agricultural and environmental benefits. There is ,however, a pressing issue of resource scarcity due to world population growth. Once we renounce the politics of climate fear and embrace the politics of energy security we will start getting somewhere, while also promoting more political harmony within our societies.
Not quite. If strategic sufficiency in energy were the only consideration only could just diversify gas sources (including fracked gas). And those things should be done. If reducing COs accumulation in the atmosphere is an objective then we should tax net emissions of CO2. Mixing objectives usually leads to bad or at least very inefficient policies.
note: "According to the 2013 energy study by Germany's Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR), technically recoverable shale gas reserves in Europe amount to 14 trillion cubic metres (tcm), and exceed Europe's conventional natural gas reserves – estimated at 5.2 tcm." In other words, you have the gas but have to "frack" the shale like is being done in the US. Fracking gas made the US a major exporter because the owners of the shale deposits were private citizens and the government bureaucrats couldn't stop the owner from drilling and selling the gas. Europe appears bureaucratically frozen to just poke holes in the ground.
Actually, the "bureaucrats" in the United States can stop drilling on either private or public lands; which they do. I live in the SF bay area near the Monterrey Peninsula, which has an abundance of natural gas that is under private property. However, no fracking has occurred. And the reason is obvious. But there is a bigger point. Even if there weren't catastrophic externalities to fossil use and productions, the sheer stupidity of using it as a fuel should make governments and societies go green. As I once read in an article in Project Syndicate, future historians and economists will look back in amazement that we used energy dense hydrocarbons that can be used in so many ways, as a fuel-we burned them up! It is equivalent to cutting down all of the trees in the Amazon in order to make wood pellets for stoves.
I agree that bureaucrats can and do block private development, but it is more difficult when private owners object. Yes, California's political class does not honor property rights that well. However, in the house where I grew up (Los Angeles, Ca), we obtained annual royalties from slant drilled wells miles away and most of the neighbors liked the money. Yes, plastic and food production (single-cell protein for animal feeds) may be a better use but without cheap/reliable energy like nuclear, that will be a dream, not a reality.
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