Brussels and NGOs have expressed concern about several European Union countries, including Germany, returning to using coal to generate electricity as the effects of Russia’s war on Ukraine affect energy supplies. “We must ensure that we use this crisis to move forward and not give in to dirty fossil fuels,” European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said in an interview with several European media outlets on Tuesday. “It is a fine line and it has not been determined whether we will make the right turn,” he added. The shift – a reaction in Europe that is increasingly thirsty for power that is increasingly starving of Russian gas and oil – is seriously undermining the EU’s ambition to become climate neutral by 2050. This goal is one of the cornerstones of von der Leyen’s policies at the helm of the EU executive. Germany, Austria and the Netherlands have said they will ease restrictions on coal-fired power plants after Russian energy giant Gazprom said it would reduce the amount of gas it supplies through the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany. German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Tuesday that the cut in gas supplies to Europe was an “attack on us” by Moscow. While Germany, Europe’s largest economy and the region ‘s largest energy consumer, has said it still plans to give up coal by 2030, environmental groups are wary.
“Bad choice”
Returning to carbon “is a bad choice” with structural consequences, said Neil Makaroff of the Climate Action Network, an umbrella organization for such groups. “Countries continue to support fossil fuels instead of investing heavily in renewable energy,” he said. “Danger replaces one dependency with another: importing coal from Colombia or Australia, liquefied natural gas from the US or Qatar, to replace Russian hydrocarbons.” Another group, Carbon Market Watch, agreed that the move to coal was “worrying” and hoped it would be “as temporary as possible”. The EU, as part of sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, is gradually enforcing a ban on imports of Russian coal and oil. Moscow, in turn, has decided to reduce gas supplies to EU countries. Although he says the reduced supplies are due to technical or maintenance reasons, European capitals believe Russia is trying to hurt the EU for its support for Ukraine, especially its bid to one day join the EU bloc.
