climate protection
Expansion of renewable energies – G20 meeting without agreement
Robert Habeck (middle) during the meeting of energy ministers in Goa. photo
© Britta Pedersen/dpa
At a G20 ministerial meeting in India, Russia and other countries are blocking an agreement on accelerating the expansion of green electricity. Federal Minister of Economics Habeck uses the meeting for an appeal.
The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has resulted in the meeting of the G20 energy ministers overshadowed in India. Due to a blockade by Russia, among others, the G20 of the leading industrialized and emerging countries in Goa, India, did not reach a consensus on speeding up the expansion of renewable energies. There was no joint final declaration.
Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) said in his statement at the meeting, according to information from delegation circles, that renewable energies are much more than a question of climate protection. They are a question of energy security.
Habeck: Name Russia clearly as the perpetrator
Habeck had sharply condemned the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, it said. Russia is a member of the G20 of leading industrialized and emerging countries. India is currently chairing the G20. The main summit will be held in New Delhi in September. Russia was represented in Goa by a department head from the Ministry of Energy, it said. Deputy Russian Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin was connected via video.
Habeck said in his statement, according to the delegation circles, that in a war of aggression it must be clearly stated who is the perpetrator and who is the victim. This is his clear appeal to all states. Russia is clearly the culprit.
On Thursday in New Delhi, the minister criticized that India had not yet clearly and sharply condemned the war. China also did not condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) had urged China to exert more influence on Russia in order to end the war of aggression.
Russia speaks of “terrorist attacks” on Nord Stream
According to dpa information, Russian Deputy Energy Minister Sorokin spoke of “terrorist attacks” in his statement regarding the Nord Stream gas pipeline. In September 2022, several explosions were registered near the Danish Baltic Sea island of Bornholm and a little later four leaks were discovered in three of the four lines of the Nord Stream pipelines. Investigators assume sabotage. It is unclear who is responsible for the crime.
Nord Stream 1 has provided a significant portion of the gas imported into Europe since 2011. However, in the course of the confrontation with the West after its attack on Ukraine, Moscow had already curtailed supplies before the destruction and then stopped them altogether. The newer Nord Stream 2 pipeline was already filled with gas – the federal government had stopped the permitting process for this second pipeline in response to the war of aggression.
Habeck: Russia uses energy as a weapon
Habeck was not in the room during the statement by the Russian representative, it said. In his statement, he said that Europe in particular had to learn last year that Russia was using energy as a “weapon,” according to the delegation circles. Gas deliveries have been throttled and stopped in order to trigger a gas shortage in Germany and Europe. That didn’t work. Europe and Germany had felt what one-sided fossil dependencies meant.
Habeck had dampened expectations of the ministerial meeting in advance. Russia, China and Saudi Arabia are currently opposed to taking further steps – for more climate protection in the energy sector. However, according to delegation circles, Habeck pointed out that the majority of the G20 wanted renewable energies to triple by 2030. The end of the fossil fuel age had long since begun. The group of seven leading democratic industrial nations (G7), which also includes Germany, had agreed on fixed goals for the expansion of renewable energies.
Habeck has been on a visit to India since Thursday. India is increasingly turning to renewable energy – but also to more coal, on which the country is currently still dependent. China is also still building new coal-fired power plants.