Heat and war combine to hinder the fight against climate change

The deadly heat and Russia’s war in Ukraine are doubled brutal blow, disrupting the global energy market and forcing some of the world’s largest economies into a desperate struggle to secure electricity for their citizens.

This week, Europe found itself in a feedback loop unpleasant as record temperatures increased the demand for electricity, but also forced the closure of nuclear power plants in the region because the extreme heat made it difficult cooling down of the reactors.

France on Tuesday detailed its plan to renationalise its power company, EDF, to support the nation’s energy independence renewal of its fleet of nuclear power plants aged.

Russiawhich for decades has provided much of Europe’s natural gas, has kept Europe in doubt whether it will resume gas flows this week through a key pipeline.

Germany pushed the European Union to approve low-cost loans for new gas projects, which could prolong its dependence on fossil fuels over the decades.

However, while much of the world’s attention is currently focused on the region’s extreme heat, Europe is not alone in feeling the effects of energy turbulence on a warmer planet.

China he ordered factories to cut electricity consumption as extreme temperatures melted roofs, broke roads, and forced people to take refuge in underground air raid shelters.

India struggled to find coal for its power plants earlier this year during a unusually early and prolonged heat wave fueled by climate change.

Cascading Effects of War and Coronavirus Pandemic on Energy and Food Prices Hit Citizens Hardest Poorer of the world.

In Africa25 million more people are now living without electricity, compared to before the pandemic, according to estimates by the International Energy Agency.

In the United States, the largest greenhouse gas emitter in history, extreme temperatures scorched areas in the south and west as prospects for national climate legislation plummeted in the nation’s capital.

At the same time, world oil companies reported profits skyrocketing while the prices of oil and gas have soared.

Indeed, the world’s ability to curb climate change has not only been undermined by producers of the same fossil fuels responsible for climate change, but has also been challenged by deadly heat, an indicator developer of climate change.

In a world conference aimed at reviving climate action in Berlin, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called climate change the “the biggest security challenge” before the world and urged countries to use the Russian war as a spur to move faster to renewable energy.

“Fossil fuels are a sign of this today addiction and lack of freedomHe said on Tuesday.

Germany relies on piped Russian gas for 35% of its energy needs.

In the same conference, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterresexpressed more directly.

“We continue to fuel our dependence on fossil fuels,” he said.

The Berlin meeting took place against the backdrop of a gloomy moment in global climate action.

Without climate legislation in Washington, it’s next to impossible United States of America achieve its national climate goal, nor can it put much diplomatic pressure on China to contain their growing emissions.

China produces most gases of the world that warm the planet right now and play a vital role in the planet’s future climate:

it burns more coal than any other country right now, but it also produces most of it new green energy of the world with technology, including solar panels and microelectrics.

There is a big question mark as to whether EU lawmakers will use the invasion of Ukraine to accelerate their move away from fossil fuels, or simply will import gas from other places besides Russia.

The stakes are high.

EU climate law requires the bloc of 27 countries to cut their emissions 55% by 2030.

More coal-fired power plants are expected to shut down than ever and there is no evidence that Europe will forever revert to coal, although some countries are resuming operations in coal-fired power plants to meet energy demand. immediate.

“Coal is not coming back,” read the headline of a report released last week by a research group Ember.

EU lawmakers are also encouraging building owners to renovate old homes and businesses to improve energy efficiency.

And under EU law, no new cars with petrol engines will be sold. internal combustion from 2035.

In any case, analysts say, the current crisis draws attention to not doing more sooner.

“We’ve seen some progress, but if you look at the big picture, it’s not enough,” said Hanna Fekete, a climate policy analyst at the New Climate Institute, an organization based in Cologne, Germany that promotes efforts to tackle climate change.

“We have missed so many opportunities for energy efficiency.”

The biggest effect in the world

The energy crisis depends on the world’s ability to curb climate change.

Burning fossil fuels is the leading cause of global warming, as greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere trap heat from the sun, raising global average temperatures and fueling extreme weather events, including record heat.

Since rich and industrialized countries like the United States and Europe are unwilling to abandon fossil fuels, emerging economies they are resisting the pressure to do so.

After all, they argue, it is the richest nations in the world, not the poorest, who are most responsible for the generations of greenhouse gas emissions that are destroying the climate today and disproportionately harming the world’s poorest people.

The Minister of the Environment South AfricaBarbara Creecy made this point loud and clear at the Berlin conference this week.

“Developed countries must continue to take the lead with ambitious actions,” he said.

“The ultimate measure of climate leadership is not what countries do in times of comfort and convenience, but what they do times of challenges and controversies“.

Rich countries have yet to deliver the pledged $ 100 billion in annual funding to help poor countries switch to renewable energy.

Many countries already in debt are growing deeper as they try to recover from extreme weather disasters exacerbated by climate change.

Russia, one of the world’s largest oil and gas producers, invaded Ukraine at a time when energy prices were already rising.

At the end of last year, oil and gas prices were high and rising, in part because US oil and gas production collapsed at the start of the coronavirus pandemic and never recovered.

Russia began limiting supplies to Europe as early as last September, helping to push Europe’s electricity prices to the highest levels in over a decade.

At the same time, gas demand in Europe rebounded as the economy rebounded after pandemic closures and mild weather caused a drop in wind energy.

In February, the president of Russia Vladimir Putin it invaded Ukraine and Russia further reduced gas flows to its European customers, starting with Bulgaria and Poland in April.

Germany fears it will be the next step, as the country waits to see if Gazprom, the Russian state-owned energy giant, will resume flows through the pipeline linking Siberian gas fields to the German coast.

It was closed on July 11th for what they should be only 10 days of annual maintenance.

Several European countries are competing fill the gas storage tanks in time to have enough energy to heat homes and run industry in the winter.

EU officials fear that if Russia does not resume gas flows, the blockade will not live up to its mandatory target of 80% of its capacity in early November.

“The world has never seen an energy crisis so great in depth and complexity,” said the head of the International Energy Agency Fatih Birol last week.

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