Iran war an ‘abject lesson’ on fossil fuel dependence, UN climate chief says

The disruption to energy markets caused by the Iran war is an “abject lesson” in the risks of relying on fossil fuels, and underscores the case for governments to wean their economies off oil and gas, the UN climate secretary will tell EU policymakers today.

While geographically far from the crisis in the Middle East, the European Union has felt its disruption through surging global energy prices. European gas prices have jumped by 50% during the war that began on February 28.

“Fossil fuel dependency is ripping away national security and sovereignty, and replacing it with subservience and rising costs,” Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UN climate change arm UNFCCC, will tell EU officials and government ministers at an event in Brussels.

“Europe is more reliant on fossil fuel imports than almost any other major economy,” Stiell will say, in prepared remarks that warned reliance on fossil fuels was leaving consumers “at the mercy of geopolitical shocks and price volatility.”

The EU imports more than 90% of its oil and 80% of its gas.

EU leaders are hurriedly drafting emergency measures to shield consumers from the energy price spike.

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 countries’ energy security, and cut them free from volatile fuel prices.

But governments including Italy and Hungary are urging Brussels to weaken its climate change policies, to provide short-term cost relief for industries.