Countries abandoning climate targets, as 'worst is yet to come'

The head of the International Energy Agency has told an Australian forum to brace for difficult months ahead.

The head of the International Energy Agency has told an Australian forum to brace for difficult months ahead.

The world has "never witnessed such a major energy crisis" and Europe risks "very, very strong conflict" and civil unrest, after Russia shut down one of its biggest gas pipelines on Monday. 

Abandoning climate targets temporarily is being considered, as Frans Timmermans, the second most senior European Union official, urges a return to fossil fuels to avoid riots through Winter.

"The one thing that could help Putin is divisions in our society," Timmermans told the Guardian, so he argues it must take precedence over climate goals.

Germany has been hailed for shutting its coal-fired station, but is now in the precarious position of relying on Russia for majority of its gas. As a result, the EU's biggest economy has started to increase electricity production from coal-fired power stations, the dirtiest form of energy.

Russia shut down one of its biggest pipelines to western Europe on Monday.

The warring country has been reducing gas supplies to Europe for a number of weeks. Poland, Bulgaria, and Finland have been cut off from Russia's gas networks. Deliveries to Italy and Austria have been reduced by as much as 70%.

Now there are fears Germany won't have enough gas to get through winter and ministers in Berlin are warning of a "nightmare scenario".

The Nord Stream 1 pipeline - which accounts for one-third of Germany's gas imports - will be shut down for 10 days for its annual maintenance. Although Russia promises to turn the gas back on, Germany is not so confident. The worst-case scenario is that Germany could run out of gas reserves as soon as January, and officials are preparing for this.

Some have accused Putin of using Europe's reliance on its energy as a tool to pressure states after Europe hit Russia with extensive sanctions after its invasion of Ukraine back in February.

France is also bracing for a "total cut-off of Russian gas".

"We haven't seen the worst of it."

This was the warning of International Energy Agency executive director Faith Birol at the Sydney Energy Forum on Tuesday, who added the world has "never witnessed such a major energy crisis."

He said he worried about the further "global implications for the world economy" of our "first global energy crisis".

Birol urges nations to accelerate a move to renewables and keep climate change commitments, rather than abandoning them in the face of short-term pain.

Australia on Tuesday joined an international partnership to forge global supply chains for critical minerals in order for a global transition to green energy. The east coast of Australia has been in the grips of its own energy supply crunch, largely due to old, failing coal-fired power stations.

Read more about Australia's electricity crisis here.

This partnership also stems from fears China could dominate the $A34 trillion global clean energy market. China accounts for 80% of the solar supply chain globally which will grow to a 95% share by 2025, according to the International Energy Agency.

@theoz.com.au

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On Tuesday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia’s future was as a renewable superpower and promised Labor’s ambitious new renewable target would “unlock $52 billion of private sector investment.”