Our addiction to fossil fuel is taking us on
When I look back at 2014 and consider the many conflicts that have plagued our planet, there is one fact that I cannot ignore and that is – our addiction to fossil fuel is taking us on the road to nowhere.
I joined a panel at the Munich Security Conference in Germany and talked about global security and energy security. You might be surprised to see Greenpeace at a security conference. The room was full of members of the "strategic community", people who are not the crowd we normally engage with; they are the crowd we have historically challenged with our peace campaigns. However, I appreciated having the opportunity to be a dissenting voice and to talk about what I consider is the path towards true energy security.
What often dominates discussions about peace and security are questions about solutions – around how conflicts are to be addressed and solved, economic sanctions, peace missions, diplomatic negotiations – these are all the mechanisms we have become accustomed to which dominate the discourse.
I urge you however to think about this from a different perspective – prevention. How could conflicts have been prevented and even more importantly – how can the next conflicts be prevented, or at least how do we mitigate the risks.
When I look back at 2014 and consider the many conflicts that have plagued our planet, there is one fact that I cannot ignore and that is – our addiction to fossil fuel is taking us on the road to nowhere.
It must be made clear – conflict is always driven by a unique set of circumstances and it would be wrong to try to reduce a conflict to one dimension. However, if you look at some of the conflicts that have dominated our news screens this year you will see that fossil fuels – coal, oil and natural gas – have often played a role. Sometimes in the background, sometimes taking center stage. The conflict in the Ukraine, which had partly been triggered by its ongoing energy crisis, has been making headlines. But there were several other conflicts around the world last year, also related to energy issues: in the South China Sea, Iraq and South Sudan, to name just a few.
Energy security was high on the agenda of world leaders in 2014. Governments all over the world are now trying to come up with plans to ensure stable energy supply. I would urge you to consider that our quest for energy security must go hand in hand with the quest for true security. And when embarking on this quest we must insist on finding true solutions. Opt for a system change rather than tweak the existing broken system. For me, true energy security would mean freedom from the geopolitical instability and conflicts triggered by fossil fuels, from the risks to lives, health and the environment, and from some of the threats of climate change. The conflict in Ukraine has brought the issue closer to home. Gas imports from Russia through Ukraine represent over 15% of Europe's gas supply and last year's threat by Russia to cut off this supply has caused EU leaders to urgently scramble for solutions.
by Kumi Naidoo,
Executive Director of
Greenpeace International
Perreault Magazine - 44 -
the road to nowhere