The disruption to energy markets caused by the Iran war is a lesson on the risks of relying on fossil fuels which should drive governments to wean their economies off oil and gas faster, the U.N. climate secretary told Reuters on Monday.
“If there was ever a moment to accelerate that energy transition, breaking dependencies which have shackled economies, this is the time,” Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the U.N. climate change arm UNFCCC, said in an interview.
Stiell, who will meet EU officials and government ministers in Brussels on Monday, said the price spikes triggered by the conflict demonstrated how heavy reliance on imported oil and gas threatened national security and the cost of living.
“Those risks are abundantly clear right now and are burning at everyone’s feet,” he said.
Leaders of the EU, which imports more than 90% of its oil and 80% of its gas, are drafting emergency measures to shield consumers from rising energy bills and avoid a repeat of record-high energy prices in 2022 after Russia‘s invasion of Ukraine.
In the longer term, the European Commission says its climate change strategy to replace fossil fuels with locally-produced renewable and nuclear energy will secure energy security, and cut countries free from volatile fuel prices.
But governments including Italy and Hungary are urging Brussels to weaken its climate policies to provide short-term cost relief for industries.
Stiell will warn that doing this would be “completely delusional,” according to prepared remarks for an event in Brussels where he will argue the shift to renewable energy means cheaper power and jobs in clean-technology industries.
This year’s U.N. climate negotiations are set to take place in Antalya, Turkey in November. Turkey said on Friday NATO defenses had intercepted a third missile fired from Iran towards the country.
Stiell told Reuters the UNFCCC was monitoring the security risks, but that “right now, planning continues as announced,” for the COP31 summit.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Peter Graff)
