The European Union says it’s time for the oil boss presiding over this year’s global climate talks to step up and push for a fossil fuel phaseout. Spanish Ecological Transition Minister Teresa Ribera, who represents EU governments in the negotiations, said Sultan al-Jaber, the COP28 president and CEO of the …
Read More »Nord Stream Saboteurs may have Used Poland as Base of Operations, WSJ Reports
Poland could have been used as an operating base to carry out the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines last year, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing findings of a Germany-led investigation. German investigators are examining why the yacht believed to have been used to carry out …
Read More »Global Plastic Treaty Talks Limp on despite Blockade by Oil-Rich Countries
Getting 170-plus countries to agree on a global treaty to fight plastic pollution was never going to be easy. But negotiators didn’t think clearing the first hurdle would be this hard. A second round of U.N. talks for an international plan to tackle plastic pollution limped toward its conclusion Friday, …
Read More »The Russian Gas Habit Europe can’t Quit: LNG
European leaders have boasted about cutting their reliance on Russian gas since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. But that’s only part of the truth. While supplies of natural gas delivered by pipeline fell dramatically this year, liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from Russia into the EU increased by 46 percent year-on-year …
Read More »France Swings behind Brussels’ Gas Price Cap Plan
France has come out in favor of imposing an EU-wide price cap on gas supply from Russia and a windfall tax on excess energy profits as Europe looks to reign in sky-high energy costs and respond to provocations from Moscow. European leaders are fighting to contain an energy crisis that …
Read More »Gazprom Cuts Gas Deliveries to France’s Engie
French utility Engie announced that Russian energy giant Gazprom will reduce gas deliveries as of today over a contract disagreement. The company did not specify the reason for the dispute, but did say it “had already secured the volumes necessary to meet its commitment towards its customers and its own …
Read More »G7 Mulls Call for Necessary Public Gas Investments
A proposal under discussion by the G7 would call for using tax money for natural gas projects as a response to Russia’s war in Ukraine — potentially clashing with the group’s climate pledges. A draft section of the communiqué, yet to be agreed by the leaders of G7, acknowledges that …
Read More »Russia Oil Sanctions won’t be Approved at EU Summit
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has ruled out reaching an EU-wide agreement on banning Russian oil imports at next week’s European Council summit. In an interview with POLITICO on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, von der Leyen said she did not want to raise …
Read More »Scholz: Russian Energy Ban would Mean European Recession
An immediate ban on Russian energy imports would trigger an economic recession in Germany and across Europe, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz warned Wednesday. Speaking to the Bundestag, Scholz said Germany would end its energy dependence on Russia in due course but cutting all ties now would hit the German economy …
Read More »Poland Tries to Wean Itself off Russian Energy
As the EU discusses how fast it can reduce its dependency on Russian energy imports, Poland claims it’s an example of how to do just that as it ends its status as a Russian natural gas customer. “Over the past five years, we have built the Baltic gas pipeline to …
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