European leaders plan to phase out Russian coal imports In response to harrowing Book. scene inA suburb of Kyiv.
On Tuesday, the European Commission proposed a phased ban of Russian coal imports worth €4 billion ($4.3 billion) per year as part of a fifth package of sanctions designed to further ease Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war chest. Gave. Other proposals target Russian technology and manufacturing imports, worth €10 billion ($10.9 billion).
Europe has imposed Punitive sanctions on the economy of Russia Since Putin’s tanks rolled down Ukraine in late February, they have so far stopped targeting Russia’s energy sector. Photos of unarmed civilians, bound and shot, lying along the streets of Bucha – until recently under Russian occupation – have convinced leaders to turn the deal.
More details about the new round of sanctions, including the deadline for the coal ban, are expected when the EU ambassadors meet for talks on Wednesday. The measures still require the approval of all 27 member states.
Coal approval would bite some European countries, but it is one of the easiest energy sources – much of the world is already doing so. The trickier question is: what happens next?
How much Russian coal goes to Europe? According to the International Energy Agency, Russia was the world’s third largest coal exporter in 2020 after Australia and Indonesia, with Europe by far the biggest customer.
IEA data shows that the continent received 57 million tons of Russian hard coal that year, compared to 31 million tons for China. According to Eurostat, this amounted to more than half of Europe’s coal that year.
But the European Union was already turning its back on the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel.
According to an analysis by energy think tank Amber, the amount of coal-generated electricity has declined steadily across the bloc in recent years, with a 29% drop between 2017 and 2019.
And despite a brief increase last year as gas prices hit record highs, the IEA forecasts a steady decline in European demand for coal. Even before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, total imports were expected to drop by 6% by 2024.
Other countries may step in to buy Russian coal. The IEA expects India’s coal imports to grow by over 4% in 2024 and over 6% in Southeast Asia. Russia has already benefited from the boom in exports to China after Xi Jinping Australian import banThe agency said in a December report.
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