European Commissioner for Climate Action Miguel Arias Cañete has opened the 4th EU Energy Summit by warning against international geopolitical uncertainties.
Cañete opened the summit with a speech discussing his view on why current international geopolitical uncertainties mean that European stakeholders should accelerate efforts to transition towards clean and renewable energy.
He began with a warning that while the production of fossil fuels is declining in the EU, it is doing so far more quickly than the decline in consumption of coal, oil and gas. This means that even as Europe transitions towards the use of renewable energy sources, the rate at which it imports fossil fuels is unlikely to decrease.
What’s more, in 2016, 76% of the EU’s gas imports came from just two countries: Russia and Norway, and an 11% came from Algeria and Libya. This, Cañete said, is of particular concern in times full of international geopolitical uncertainties, because it could put supplies at risk. This is one of the major concerns that led to the EU’s ambition to create an Energy Union.
What can the EU do to secure energy supplies?
Cañete highlighted a number of key initiatives which the EU is pursuing to accelerate its energy transition and decrease its dependency on imported fossil fuels. Among these is the Southern Gas Corridor, a pipeline project which will deliver gas from Azerbaijan to Europe and will be operational by 2020. The first phase of the project, supplying energy to Turkey, will be complete this summer.
Cañete concluded by reinforcing the need for Europe to move away from its current energy sources, and to seek the opportunities afforded by renewables. He said: “For us in Europe, the wider use of renewable energies, the further efforts at energy efficiency and the increasing involvement of energy consumers as active players through demand response, self-consumption or storage will help to mitigate our import dependency for oil and gas.”
This is necessary because the energy transition is already happening all over the world, irrespective of a country’s role in the energy supply chain, he added: “Despite all the geopolitical uncertainties today, the energy transition is happening everywhere, regardless of whether countries or regions are energy exporters or importers”.
