The energy ministers of the G20 in India could not agree on tripling the expansion of renewable energies by 2030 – several countries blocked it. The meeting was overshadowed by Russia’s war against Ukraine.
At their meeting in Goa, India, the energy ministers of the G20 states did not agree on speeding up the expansion of renewable energies – due to a blockade by several countries, including Russia. There was no joint final declaration.
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement that for the first time the G20 had made a commitment to decarbonising industry with high energy consumption. On the other hand, there is no agreement on a tripling of renewable energies by 2030, as all G7 countries have already decided.
According to Habeck, the meeting was made more difficult by a blockade “by a small number of countries, above all countries that produce fossil fuels”. “It’s a bit of a disappointment, but it’s expected.” According to information from the Reuters news agency, Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and South Africa rejected the move.
Russian ViceMinister of Energy connects via video
The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine overshadowed the meeting in India, which currently holds the G20 presidency. G20 member Russia was represented in Goa by a department head from the Ministry of Energy, according to delegation circles. Deputy Russian Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin was connected via video.
Habeck said it was shocking how Sorokin’s statement expressed a “complete misjudgment of reality”. Sorokin attributed the energy crisis to the 2008 financial crisis. “It’s just a completely twisted world view,” said Habeck, who condemned the war against Ukraine.
Sorokin speaks of “terrorist attacks” on North Stream
According to information from the dpa news agency, Sorokin spoke of “terrorist attacks” in his statement with regard to 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.
In the course of the confrontation with the West after its attack on Ukraine, Moscow had already curtailed deliveries before the destruction and then stopped them altogether. Nord Stream 1 has provided a significant portion of the gas imported into Europe since 2011.
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: “Energy as a weapon”
Habeck 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.
Habeck called the meeting an “intermediate step on the way to the UN climate conference at the end of the year in Dubai”. It will be seen whether further steps can be taken so that the world community can respond adequately at the end of the year to “what we are currently experiencing worldwide, that the earth is literally starting to burn.”