European leaders plan to phase out Russian coal imports In response to the shocking Scenes in Buchaa suburb of Kyiv.
The European Commission on Tuesday proposed a phased ban of 4 billion euros ($4.3 billion) from imports of Russian coal annually as part of a fifth package of sanctions aimed at shrinking Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war fund. Other proposals target Russian technology and manufacturing imports worth another 10 billion euros ($10.9 billion).
Europe imposed Punishment of sanctions on the Russian economy Since Putin’s tanks rolled into Ukraine in late February, they have stopped short of targeting the Russian energy sector — until now. Images of defenseless civilians chained up along the Bucha Roads—until recently under Russian occupation—convinced the leaders to change course.
On Wednesday, when EU ambassadors meet for talks, more details about the new round of sanctions, including the timetable for the coal ban, are expected. The measures still need to be approved by all 27 member states.
Sanctions on coal will upset some European countries, but it’s among the easiest sources of energy to get rid of — much of the world is already doing so. The hardest question is: What will happen next?
How much Russian coal goes to Europe? Russia was the world’s third largest exporter of coal in 2020, after Australia and Indonesia, according to the International Energy Agency, with Europe by far its largest customer.
International Energy Agency data showed that the continent received 57 million tons of Russian hard coal that year, compared to 31 million tons for China. That amounted to more than half of Europe’s coal that year, according to Eurostat.
But the European Union is already starting to move away from the world’s dirtiest fossil fuels.
The amount of electricity generated from coal has been steadily declining across the block in recent years, declining 29% between 2017 and 2019, according to an analysis by the Ember Energy Research Center.
Despite a slight rise last year with gas prices at record levels, the International Energy Agency expects European demand for coal to resume its steady decline. Total imports were expected to decline by 6% by 2024 even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Other countries could step in to buy Russian coal. The International Energy Agency expects India’s coal imports to rise by 4% in 2024, and more than 6% in Southeast Asia. Russia has already benefited from a jump in exports to China after Xi Jinping Australian import banThe agency said in a December report.
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