Brussels, 20 October 2022 – The German government wants the European Union to push countries to develop new gas fields in response to the energy price crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to leaked comments seen by Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
The German comments to the draft conclusions of today’s EU summit in Brussels include a request for the EU to “work together with countries that have the capacity to develop new gas fields, as part of the Paris Climate Agreement commitments.”
Germany signed a statement at last year’s UN climate change conference in Glasgow, Scotland, pledging to end support for unabated fossil fuels like gas and oil, and acknowledging that new fossil fuel exploration would create stranded assets and have negative impacts on government revenues, taxpayers and public health.
Greenpeace EU climate and energy campaigner Silvia Pastorelli said: “Drilling for more gas is deepening Europe’s long-term dependence on fossil fuels, and the consequences will be more droughts, more floods, and higher energy costs for decades to come. Olaf Scholz should know better, since it’s been barely a year since the German government promised not to support fossil fuel expansion for these very reasons. The EU should be slashing energy waste and accelerating the roll-out of renewable energy, not discarding climate commitments.”
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