Economy Habeck in India
“The important thing is that the many progressives move forward together”
As of: 6:00 p.m. | Reading time: 3 minutes
Robert Habeck complains that some countries are blocking the meeting of the G20 energy ministers
Source: dpa/Britta Pedersen
At a G-20 ministerial meeting in India, Russia and other countries are blocking an agreement on accelerating the expansion of green electricity. The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine overshadowed the talks. Economics Minister Habeck accuses Moscow of “a completely twisted world view”.
At their meeting in India, the energy ministers of the G-20 countries did not reach agreement on the promotion of renewable energies. For the first time, the 20 most important industrialized and emerging countries (G20) have made a commitment to decarbonising industry with high energy consumption, said Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck on Sunday. On the other hand, there is no agreement on a tripling of renewable energies by 2030, as all G-7 countries have already decided. A joint final declaration after the four-day meeting in the Indian state of Goa did not materialize.
The Reuters news agency had learned from insiders the day before that a push to expand renewables had met with resistance from large producers and consumers of fossil fuels. Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Indonesia rejected a proposal by the seven leading industrialized countries (G7) – which includes Germany – to triple the share of renewable energy in the G20 countries by 2030. China, the world‘s largest emitter of carbon dioxide, also rejected the plan.
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A blockade by a few countries, especially countries that produce fossil fuels, made the meeting more difficult, explained Habeck. But: The vast majority of the G-20 countries want to lead the way in the expansion of renewable energies and are already doing so. “The bottom line is that the world is not waiting for the slowest, but that the many progressives move forward together,” he said. For example, it was possible to record a doubling of energy efficiency by 2030 in the results paper.
The minister called the meeting an intermediate step on the way to the UN climate conference at the end of the year in Dubai. It will be seen whether further steps can be taken so that by the end of the year the world community can respond adequately to “what we are currently experiencing worldwide, that the earth is literally starting to burn”.
Habeck makes an appeal to other ministers
The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine overshadowed the meeting of the G-20 energy ministers. “As we speak, more soldiers are dying, the number of civilian casualties is simply unbearable,” explained Habeck. He condemned the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. It was frightening how the statement by Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin expressed a “complete misjudgment of reality”. Sorokin, who connected via video, attributed the energy crisis to the 2008 financial crisis. “It’s just a completely twisted worldview.”
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Russia is a member of the G 20 leading industrial and emerging countries. India is currently chairing the G20. The main summit will be held in New Delhi in September. According to sources in the delegation, Russia was represented in Goa by a department head from the Ministry of Energy.
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In his statement at the meeting, Habeck said that in a war of aggression it must be clearly stated who is the perpetrator and who is the victim, according to delegation circles. This is his clear appeal to all states. Russia is clearly the culprit. On Thursday in New Delhi, the minister criticized that India had not yet clearly and sharply condemned the war. China also did not condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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