“They’re using this money to kill people,” Roman Shakhmatenko told the Nairobi-based meeting from a basement bomb shelter
Ukraine’s deputy environment minister urged leaders to choke off support to Russian fossil fuel interests, in a speech to the UN Environment Assembly on Tuesday.
Speaking from what looked like a basement bomb shelter in Kyiv, Roman Shakhmatenko told the Nairobi-based meeting: “For decades, a lot of leaders have been using limitless and unstoppable fossil fuels.”
“Weve ignored the issue that its influencing climate change. He said that it was affecting our future, as well as our global future.
“Moreover, he said, this ignorance brought [the]Rise of mad, of crazy dictators who have a lot to kill people and destroy [the] environment.
He sighed deeply before continuing. With this in mind I request that you take joint action [to] withdraw all of the assets, all of the shares from Russian fossil fuel companies… because theyre using this money to kill people.
Ukraine’s deputy environment minister addressing the UN Environment Assembly.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, western oil and gas majors have announced plans to divest from Russian oil and gas interests. There are many variables in the strength of their commitments.
Shell EquinorThey have stated that they will close their joint ventures to Gazprom. BP saidIt will sell its 20% stake in Rosneft. ExxonMobilIt has begun to wind down operations and exit its far eastern Russian oil and natural gas field. EniIt has stated that it plans to sell its 50% stake at a pipeline linking Russia and Turkey.
Total Energies, a French major, has only said it New investments will be stoppedNovatek’s 19% stake was sold to the company. This includes the development of LNG in Arctic.
BP, Equinor and Shell are minority shareholders. Therefore, operations will continue as before. Exxon is the majority shareholder, operator and operator of Sakhalin 1’s oil and gas field.
Climate Home was asked whether this would impact Russian oil and natural gas production. The energy lead for Ukrainian environmental NGO Ecoaction Kostiantyn Krynytsky said that it was a million-dollar question.
He stated that he believed it could be done in a package with sanctions against Russian assets. He added that just a minor reduction in production would not be enough though, as the current war was financed by “business as usual” after Russia’s 2014 invasion of the Ukrainian region of Crimea.
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Russian fossil fuels are also being targeted by Western governments. 2020 Europe importedGazprom, which is responsible for financing the Russian state, provides around 175 million cubic metres of gas per annum.
Yesterday, European Commission president Ursula Von Der Leyen The EU was building new terminals for liquid natural gas to allow ships to import gas from other countries. Europe’s biggest LNG suppliersIn 2020, the USA, Russia, Nigeria, and Qatar dominated.
In the long run, she said investment in renewables would make the EU “truly independent” because “every kilowatt-hour of electricity Europe generates from solar, wind, hydropower or biomass reduces our dependency on Russian gas and other energy sources” and that “means less money for the Kremlin’s war chest”.
Comment: Nord Stream 2 has been held hostage by an energy investment agreement
The Commission is Hastily rewritingThe gas security strategy would emphasize replacing Russian supplies from other sources. The draft proposal would also require member countries to fill gas storage before next winter and speed-up permitting for new wind or solar farms.
A Bruegel analysisIt was possible for Europe, without increasing oil or coal use, to get off Russian Gas.
In Europe, Russia’s biggest customer for gas is Germany. Berlin is drawing up plans to reduce the country’s use of Russian gas, mainly through green measures. Finance minister Christian Lindner has labelled renewables “freedom energy”.
The German government plans to use LNG from non-Russian nations, install heat pumps, non-gas district heating, and increase renewable energy in the short-term. This will require heat pump installers to be trained and cash for investment.
It may also delay closing coal-fired power stations. Robert Habeck, Green economy minister said that energy security is more important right now than climate action. There is no indication that the government will abandon its plans to eliminate coal-fired electricity by 2030.
Climate Home analyst David Ryfisch from Germawatch said that nuclear plant closures cannot be delayed. The decommissioning process has already begun and it is uncertain if it can be safely reversed.
In the long term, Germany has brought forward its 100% renewable electricity target from “well before 2040” to 2035. It wants to achieve 80% renewable electricity by 2030.
There is a strong demand from Asia for gas, but Russia would find it difficult to reroute sales since its gas is primarily produced in western Siberia. It is also linked to Europe by pipelines.
Brown is the color of operational gas pipelines. Russia’s gas fields are mainly in western Siberia.
Russian oil was available Wednesday Trading at a DiscountWith buyers wary about reputational and legal risk, the barrel price was more than $18 below market rate
Ben Cahill, a researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Energy (CSIS), stated that Asia cannot easily replace European oil markets. Around 60% of Russia’s oil exports go to OECD Europe while 20% go to China.
Cahill told the CSIS podcast: “It’s a significant exporter to both markets. It’s the critical supplier to Europe. Can they replace Europe as a supplier of crude oil products? No they can’t”.
“This is the end of Russia as an energy superpower”, added Cahill’s colleague Nikos Tsafos.