Before Russia's war in Ukraine, Europe’s most pressing energy policy goal was reducing carbon emissions that cause climate change. Now, officials are fixated on rapidly reducing the continent's reliance on Russian oil and natural gas – and that means friction between security and climate goals, at least in the short term.
In 2021, the European Union imported roughly 40% of its gas and 25% of its oil from Russia an economic relationship that officials had thought would prevent hostilities, but is instead financing them.