What Putin’s war means for net zero

Germany has fired up nuclear power stations; China has leaned on coal; gas exports from Qatar are booming. The war in Ukraine is reshaping the flow of energy around the world. But what does it mean for the transition to net zero?

Overall, emissions have grown more slowly than expected this year, according to the International Energy Agency, as solar and wind power have helped plug the energy gap. The IEA assessment is:

    The uptick in coal appears to be “relatively small and temporary” says Fatih Birol, its executive director.

    CO2 emissions are still growing, globally, but the forecast rise from fossil fuel combustion is less than 1 per cent this year.

    Nearly three times the quantity of CO2 would have been emitted this year if it were not for the rollout of renewable technology and electric vehicles around the world. 

Europe has unveiled plans to further reduce its energy reliance on Russia, which include reducing demand, diversifying sources of gas and scaling up renewables…..

… Lauri Myllyvirta, analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, says that China’s most recent Five Year Plan shows “absolutely staggering ambition” for building renewable energy capacity…

“India’s solar rush earlier this year shows how quickly change can come,” says Aditya Lolla, an analyst at Ember…

The US, meanwhile, has passed its most ambitious climate legislation in history…

… James Cameron, an independent adviser to the UK’s COP presidency, says: “Putin has not only miscalculated in his invasion of Ukraine with the resistance that’s occurring there, but he’s also miscalculated about the dependency the world has on his fossil fuels.”

Click here to see the full report in Tortoise Media Net Zero Sensemaker. Tortoise Media takes news slowly, investigates and focuses on the stories that matter. The Net Zero Sensemaker, a weekly newsletter, builds an agenda for climate action.