Ukraine crisis threatens climate goal if coal returns, MSCI says
18 May 2022
LONDON, May 17
(Reuters) - The world faces a dangerous increase in emissions that cause
climate change due to the war in Ukraine if Russian gas is replaced with coal,
global equity index giant MSCI warned in a report on Tuesday.
In the most extreme
scenario, 800 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent could be released in
just a year if Europe were to replace all Russian gas imports with coal.
That could
jeopardise efforts to limit global warming to within 2 degrees Celsius.
"A 'bump' in
emissions today means either exceeding that limit or having to cut emissions
faster and more sharply tomorrow," MSCI wrote in a report on the impact of
the Russia-Ukraine war on green investing.
Russia is a major
supplier of gas, oil and coal to the European Union. Its invasion of Ukraine
and the bloc's sanctions on Moscow have caused a sharp spike in prices.
This prompted some
countries to call for a relaxation of EU plans to phase out use of coal, but
European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Tuesday the EU
would not be swayed from its goal of moving away from fossil fuels. L5N2X934X