Fuelling the Fire: Rethinking European Policy in Times of Energy and Climate Crises

Abstract

The European Union’s relative disregard for the economic, geopolitical and climatic concerns of its peripheral Eastern countries has contributed to making the war in Ukraine possible. Its consequences are now returning in the form of energy dependence and economic instability on the Union as a whole and the risk of economic crisis and deindustrialisation. This should prompt a re-assessment of the EU’s strategy towards its eastern neighbours, particularly in the energy and climate policy field. This evaluation starts from the issue of control over cheap energy as a key material foundation of state and interstate power. On this basis, we analyse the struggle between Russia and the European core states over Ukraine in terms of the ability to extract an economic surplus through the unequal exchange of energy. The current escalation should be understood as an attempt by the Russian petrostate to preserve the economic basis of its regime, which is threatened by the prospect of a low-carbon transition in Europe. We conclude that a massive acceleration of the transition away from fossil fuels is the key to economic, geopolitical and climate stabilisation, highlighting possible policy instruments the EU could use to secure its production system and protect citizens’ security.

Use of Propyl Gallate in Cardoon Biodiesel to Keep Its Main Properties during Oxidation

“…The role of biofuels is becoming more and more important, especially taking into account the current geopolitical context, where the shortage/cost of fuels is considerable in certain regions, such as Europe [1]. Consequently, energy and fuel transition is vital, as well as a real challenge [2].…”

The EU's Socio-economic Development Against the Backdrop of the War in Ukraine

“…This resulted in a sharp increase in import and producer prices (Korosteleva, 2022). At the same time, there are great risks of declining real economic growth, caused not only by the current situation in Ukraine but also by other structural requirements such as decarbonisation or demographic ageing (Costantini et al, 2022;Pereira et al, 2022). Especially important is that Russia's invasion of a neighbouring country provoked another exogenous shock in the already damaged European economy, and the expected normalization of pandemic-related supply problems in 2022 and the consequent reduction in inflation and increased growth rates are distant prospects.…”

“…Fourth, there is a reduction in production activities in the crisis region. Especially in the event of armed conflict, productive capacity in the affected countries is significantly reduced (Costantini et al, 2022). This affects not only domestic but also multinational companies and damages their business and income development through lost profits or ad hoc write-offs of capacity that can no longer be used.…”

Towards a Theory of Ecologically Unequal Exchange (Eue) as a Multi-Tiered Hierarchy:Investigating the Interdependence of Global and Domestic Environmental Inequalities to Explain China's Rise to Power

“…As a result, EUE theory does not make an explicit link between global processes and domestic environmental power struggles (Malm, 2012). Yet globally uneven exchanges might be better understood as the symptom of interdependent dynamics taking place at multiple levels -both within and between countries (Althouse & Svartzman, 2022;Costantini et al, 2022).…”