Slogans and Realities of the Green Transformation and the Caus | Valdai Discussion Club

Slogans and Realities of the Green Transformation and the Causes of the Energy Crisis

On December 15, the Valdai Club hosted a discussion titled “Energy Crisis: Will Europe Have the Coldest Winter in History?” featuring Pavel Sorokin, Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation.

The moderator, Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, invited the participants to discuss the prospects for energy policy in Europe and globally. He noted that this year, the energy crisis weighed on the Glasgow climate summit and on expectations of the green transformation, and that last autumn the energy sector was again held hostage by the geopolitical struggle, an example of which is the situation concerning the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation Pavel Sorokin, commenting on the decisions made at the climate summit in Glasgow, pointed out that they were mostly declarative in nature and contained a minimum number of specifics. “No matter how good the goal may be, it is very important to reach this goal, and in a normal economic situation,” he stressed. He added that slogans need to be “grounded in reality”.

Konstantin Simonov, Director General of the National Energy Security Fund, analysed the origins of the European energy crisis. This is the first time we are witnessing an energy crisis organised by buyers, not sellers, he said. He stressed that manufacturers are only increasing their supply, but consumers have suffered from the market model that they have diligently created themselves.

Marc-Antoine Eyl-Mazzega, Director of Ifri’s Centre for Energy, presented what is happening from the European point of view. In his opinion, a real drama is currently happening on the energy scene, caused by a reduction in gas use and an increase in coal usage in the energy balance, which leads to an increase in CO2 emissions.

https://valdaiclub.com/events/posts/articles/slogans-and-realities-of-the-green-transformation-and-the-causes-of-the-energy-crisis/

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club