Page 49 - bne IntelliNews monthly magazine December 2023

bne December 2023 COP28 I Special focus I 49
While the NECPs of these countries outline general goals for transitioning to green energy and committing to cease investing in new coal capacities, the report criticised the lack of detailed information on capacity scale, sectoral uptake and comprehensive grid integration strategies.
“Inclusion of credible and cohesive policies in the final NECPs by June 30, 2024 is essential, serving as a milestone to ensure that the 2030 climate and energy targets pave the way for climate neutrality by mid-century. This deadline is not merely procedural; it represents
a critical opportunity for the Western Balkans to align with the EU’s energy and climate framework, actively contributing to Europe-wide climate neutrality,”
said Viktor Berishaj, energy policy coordinator for Southeast Europe.
There is also controversy over the increased emphasis on gas in the region. CEE Bankwatch Network has strongly criticised the European Commission
and international development banks for their support for fossil fuel projects – specifically gas – in Southeast Europe.
Southeast Europe has gained some major gas transportation infrastructure in recent years, including the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) and Croatia’s offshore Krk liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, and several other interconnector projects are underway as countries in the region seek to reduce their dependence on Russian gas by enabling gas imports from different sources.
European Commissioner for Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi announced recently that the EU will support construction of an LNG terminal and gas power plant in Montenegro – despite the country not having any gas distribution infrastructure at present.
Campaigners from CEE Bankwatch contest assertions that gas is a useful transition fuel in the shift away from coal power, and argue that building
new gas infrastructure will not help importing countries achieve energy independence. Instead, they call
for development banks and other international institutions to redirect funding to green energy projects.
“Before the escalation of the Russia war with Ukraine, there was really a strong group of progressive countries, mostly EU members. Now, everybody is concerned with energy security,” said CEE Bankwatch gas campaigner Gligor Radecic in a recent interview with
bne IntelliNews.
“We do not believe gas can provide any
energy security. It’s the exact opposite; we’ve seen super volatile prices and even if the EU is not importing so much fossil gas from Russia, replacing it with other sources like Azerbaijan cannot be considered facilitating energy security. We do not believe Europe should be using fossil gas from authoritarian regimes,” said CEE Bankwatch’s communications officer Ido Liven.
Turkey assessed as “critically insufficient”
on all climate crisis goals by scientific analysis
bne IntelIiNews
Turkey received the worst rating,
“critically insufficient”, for
all climate crisis goals in an evaluation by Climate Action Tracker, an independent scientific analysis site that made an assessment of the EU countries and 39 other countries.
Its net zero target of 2053 was, meanwhile, rated as "inadequate".
The findings were discussed in articles written for Iklim Masasi and bianet
by Ezgi Ediboglu Sakowsky, a senior researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition. They were published just prior to the eve of the 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28)
to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which
began in the United Arab Emirates on November 30.
Sakowsky noted that it is frequently empha- sised by Ankara that Turkey has relatively low historical responsibility for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, but pointed out that its present-day responsibility is increas- ing: as of 2021, Turkey rose to 14th place among the highest emitting countries. That's partly caused by its continuing commitment to burning increasing volumes of coal to produce electricity.
Climate Action Tracker evaluates only seven countries as "critically insufficient" in relation to climate crisis goals besides Turkey. The other countries in this category are Russia, Mexico, Argentina, Thailand, Vietnam and Iran.
“However, upon closer examination of the details of these countries' plans, it is observed that only Iran received a worse rating than Turkey and this is because Iran has not yet announced a net-zero target,” observed Sakowsky.
He added: “We can express how severe the situation is as follows: According to this analysis, in a scenario where all countries make plans as insufficient as Turkey's, global warming will exceed the target of 1.5°C-2°C set by the Paris Agreement, reaching at least double that, with a temperature rise of 4°C.”
In short, concluded Sakowsky, “Turkey has set an emission target that it can almost achieve without any serious action”.
www.bne.eu