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

By Kate Abnett

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 U.N. climate secretary will tell EU policymakers on Monday.

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 two-week war.

"Fossil fuel dependency is ripping away national security and sovereignty, and replacing it with subservience and rising costs," Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the U.N. 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, and avoid a repeat of Europe's 2022 energy crisis, when Russia slashed gas deliveries, sending prices to record highs.

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.

Stiell will warn doing this would be "completely delusional" and argue the shift to renewable sources like wind and solar power means cheaper energy, jobs in clean-technology industries, and secure supplies.

"Meek dependence on fossil fuel imports will leave Europe forever lurching from crisis to crisis," Stiell will say.

"Renewables turn the tables. Sunlight doesn’t depend on narrow and vulnerable shipping straits."