Russia’s economy depends heavily on oil and gas revenues, and activists and scholars have made the case that Russian President Putin’s war on Ukraine is a fossil-fueled war. In the first 100 days, Russian fossil fuel exports earned Russia 93 billion US dollars. Indeed, various countries, particularly in Europe, have become heavily dependent on Russian exports of fossil fuels. In 2021, Russia supplied 40% of Europe’s gas and a quarter of Europe’s oil needs. Russia also exported heavily to China.

In this context, various countries including European Union member states have been scrambling to find alternative sources to disentangle themselves from the Russian economy and ramp up sanctions against Russia. However, action has been uneven and slow. The United States, Britain, Australia and Canada have enacted an embargo of Russian oil and gas, and the EU has put in place a plan to phase out 90% of Russian oil imports by the end of 2022. Meanwhile, China and India are taking advantage of low prices for Russian oil and gas to increase imports from Russia. Oil and gas prices elsewhere have soared due to a mix of price-gouging by carbon majors, the war in Ukraine and lasting COVID impacts, with consequences across the world. For example, while oil-producing African nations like Nigeria might be able to profit from high oil prices, the local population cannot afford to buy the oil that they themselves produce. It also remains to be seen whether the countries that have put embargoes in place will speed up their transition to renewable energy instead of simply look for fossil fuels elsewhere.

In this shifting context, this second episode in our two-part series on Putin’s war on Ukraine and oil and gas tackles three big issues. First, it looks at the relationship between revenues from fossil fuel exports and Russia’s attack on Ukraine; second, the challenges and pay-offs of divestment from and embargoes of Russian oil and gas, and third, what possibilities for a future beyond fossil fuels the situation opens up. How might we set up an energy system that allows us to condemn war and incursions on sovereignty and promotes peace?

In this episode we’ll be speaking to Svitlana Romanko, a leading Ukrainian climate campaigner, environmental lawyer and spokesperson for Stand With Ukraine. As part of this coalition, she has been advocating for a full ban on Russian fossil fuels and a larger fossil fuel phaseout as a way to undermine Russia’s expansion attempts, to eliminate oil-driven war and to stop climate change.