How can we meet our climate objectives, while protecting the economy as best as possible? With the war in Ukraine, it’s a little more difficult still. Germany, which receives less and less Russian gas, no longer hesitates to speak of “gas crisis“France confirms the launch of a new floating gas terminal. But for Anna Creti, director of the Climate Economics Chair at Paris-Dauphine University, “Gas must be managed as a rare resource.”
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“Today, we must decouple the economy from the use of fossil fuels“, she explains: “You really have to use gas where you don’t yet have an alternative. We must try to reduce its use to a minimum. It needs to be rationalized“. Down to rations?”With the scenario taking shape and Russia continuing to reduce gas deliveries, it’s not improbable (…) It’s something we plan for a very long time in advance. The last ones who could suffer are the consumers.”
Faced with this scarcity of gas, Germany is preparing to extend coal-fired power stations. But the country maintains its objective: to get out of this fossil fuel by 2030. The leading economy in the euro zone will have to adapt, stay on course with the climate without sinking its economy. It will necessarily be painful, according to the specialist.
It hurts. There is a price to pay (…) This will subsequently increase the price of energy, the price of CO2 emissions. We must be able to reconcile these objectives, but it is not a zero-sum game.
Anna CretiDirector of the Climate Economics Chair at Paris-Dauphine University
For its part, France hopes to take advantage of its reduced dependence on Russian gas. It wants to diversify its sources of supply. The Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, has just confirmed the launch of a new floating LNG terminal in Le Havre. But for the researcher, “it’s a bit of a bad temptation” : “We must try not to anchor ourselves once again in a model where we use infrastructures that make it possible not to reduce the use of fossils.”