The European Union could reach an agreement in the coming days for embargo on Russian oil imports or seek “different tools”, clarified the Minister of Economy Robert Habeck, in the framework of the Council of Ministers of Environment and Energy of the Group of Seven that takes place in Berlin. However, Mr Habeck did not specify what those different tools would be.
According to the draft of the joint announcement, the G7 will commit to the gradual abandonment of coal.
“All the countries they must reduce their dependence from oil and that includes Hungary … If this is taken as a basis for discussion, then an agreement would be possible. “But if other issues are included in the oil embargo case, it will be very difficult,” said Mr Habeck, who indirectly set next week’s European Council as the deadline for reaching an agreement. “I know that intensive talks are under way. In five days we have the next European Council. “This, I believe, is the path, either to reach an agreement or to seek different tools,” he said, without elaborating on what those tools might be.
Regarding the G7 Council of Environment and Energy Ministers, Mr Habeck said the main topic of discussion was maintaining climate change targets despite rising energy costs. The draft joint statement states the commitment of the states to end by 2030 the climate-harmful production of electricity by burning coal. “We are committed to phasing out climate-catastrophic coal-fired power generation and non-industrial coal-fired power generation by 2030,” said a text prepared by the German presidency. even the US and Japan, considering the goal too ambitious.
Mr Habeck, however, said he was optimistic that the ministerial meeting would take place will give the required impetus so that at the G7 Summit, which will take place next month in Bavaria, bold decisions will be taken that will then affect the Group of Twenty, which includes emerging economies such as India, China and Brazil. “The war in Ukraine is making energy recovery even more urgent, as issues of security of supply and rising inflation are becoming increasingly pressing,” he said.
At the same time, the environmental organization Greenpeace is putting pressure on the German Minister of Economy and Climate Protection, stressing that the logic of “Business as usual” can no longer be accepted. “War and the climate crisis must cause a strong reversal of the G7 trend, and Robert Habeck must convince them of that,” said Martin Kaiser, the group’s leader in Germany.
The host of the meeting, Environment Minister Steffi Lemke, said that the most important message of the meeting was that “we solve all crises together” and mentioned the climate crisis, the extinction of species and pollution as special ecological challenges.
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