Attending a conference of the UN climate change negotiations is always an experience of cognitive dissonance. Sharm El Sheik, an Egyptian version of Las Vegas, purpose-built for cars and mass tourism, provides a stark illustration of the inherent contradiction plaguing the climate talks: changing everything while changing nothing. Our increasingly unstable economic, political and social […]
Environment
According to Eurostat, Euro area annual inflation is expected to be 10 per cent in September 2022, with the most prominent drivers being energy, which is expected to have the highest annual rate in September (close to 40per cent) and food (close to 12 per cent). Hundreds of millions of Europeans are currently experiencing the […]
When Vladimir Putin first invaded Ukraine in 2014, Europeans had a simple choice: increase or decrease their energy dependence on Russian fossil fuels. Europeans chose to increase. National governments like Spain and France could have freed themselves from Russian gas just by implementing their own national building renovation plans. But they chose not to.
The UK is no longer part of the European Union, but it is a critical player in the European gas market. As the EU seeks to reduce its dependence on Russian gas, it relies on proximate non-EU states for access to an alternative gas supply, transport, and transit source. This requires cooperation, not competition or exclusion.
Last March, Spain and Portugal reached a historic agreement: for the first time ever, two European countries could set a price cap on gas for power generation, for a period of twelve months. A period to seek agreements was opened in both countries, which ended on 9 June, when the European Commission gave the final approval to the mechanism. This undoubtedly proves that the current European Union is very different to the European Union we were living in during the financial crisis of the last decade.
The EU Fit for 55 package is a comprehensive attempt to make the transition to a zero-carbon society in measurable incremental steps. It is a welcome development in terms of policy. And if fully implemented, it can be transformative.
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