Global reaction to energy crisis risks zero carbon transition

The report argues that governments are reacting to the energy crisis by prioritizing short-term fossil fuel security over long-term decarbonization, risking a 'gold rush' for new gas infrastructure and domestic production. While some progress in renewables and green hydrogen is noted, the authors highlight a prevalence of 'bad practices' such as fossil fuel subsidies, tax cuts for petrol, and the expansion of LNG facilities. The document provides a framework of 'do's and don'ts', urging governments to instead focus on energy efficiency, electrification, behavioral changes, and the reinvestment of fossil fuel windfall profits into clean energy to avoid stranded assets and irreversible warming.

• Governments are responding to the energy crisis by expanding fossil gas infrastructure and production, which risks locking the world into high-carbon energy for another decade. This includes a surge in planned LNG import facilities in the EU—specifically in Germany, Italy, Greece, and the Netherlands—that could increase gas supply by a quarter.
• Several countries are increasing domestic fossil fuel production or signing new long-term import contracts to replace Russian supplies. Examples include the US allowing drilling on federal lands, Norway boosting gas production, and Germany signing a long-term LNG contract with Qatar.
• Many governments are implementing price incentives that support fossil fuel-intensive behavior, such as flat-rate tax cuts for petrol and diesel or subsidizing consumer energy bills, rather than targeting support to low-income households.
• There is a lack of government support for low-cost behavioral changes to reduce energy demand, such as lowering speed limits or reducing room temperatures, although the Netherlands has reduced temperatures in over 200 government buildings.
• While the EU and UK have proposed increasing renewable energy targets and expanding heat pumps, the report finds that efforts toward energy efficiency and electrification remain underdeveloped.
• The report warns that building new fossil fuel infrastructure creates a high risk of stranded assets, estimating that keeping warming to 1.5°C could result in USD 1-4 trillion of stranded infrastructure by 2050.
• A few governments have begun taxing the record windfall profits of fossil fuel companies to fund other needs; these include Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, and the UK.

APA

Hare, B., Ramalope, D., Ancygier, A., Heck, S., Höhne, N., Lui, S., Skribbe, R., & Moisio, M. (2022). Global reaction to energy crisis risks zero carbon transition. NewClimate Institute. https://climateactiontracker.org/documents/1055/CAT_2022-06-08_Briefing_EnergyCrisisReaction.pdf

Chicago

Hare, Bill, Deborah Ramalope, Andrzej Ancygier, Sarah Heck, Niklas Höhne, Swithin Lui, Reena Skribbe, and Mia Moisio. Global reaction to energy crisis risks zero carbon transition. NewClimate Institute, 2022. https://climateactiontracker.org/documents/1055/CAT_2022-06-08_Briefing_EnergyCrisisReaction.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{hare2022global, author = {Hare, Bill and Ramalope, Deborah and Ancygier, Andrzej and Heck, Sarah and Höhne, Niklas and Lui, Swithin and Skribbe, Reena and Moisio, Mia}, title = {{Global reaction to energy crisis risks zero carbon transition}}, institution = {NewClimate Institute}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://climateactiontracker.org/documents/1055/CAT_2022-06-08_Briefing_EnergyCrisisReaction.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }