SWI
Summary
As the largest exporter of oil and gas combined worldwide, Russia represents a critical piece of the global energy puzzle. The invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the sanctions which followed have already impacted where oil and gas will come from in the future. The United States announced it is banning oil imports from Russia. Meanwhile, the European Commission has presented a plan to reduce the bloc's reliance on Russian gas by two-thirds this year. Switzerland too is evaluating the security of its future energy supply and production.
The ongoing war in Ukraine is accelerating these discussions and forcing Switzerland to confront its longer-term energy strategy. “The need to increase the security of supply has become even more urgent,” says Patrick Dümmler, a senior fellow at the think tank Avenir Suisse. “Given the need to substitute fossil sources in mobility and heating, we need to build new capacities for power generation.”
This urgency was highlighted at a lengthy debate last week in the Swiss parliament about the government’s policy and possible consequences of the war in Ukraine.
“We have to expand renewables with all our might, more speed is required. We also have to cut back on wasting energy,” declared Energy Minister Simonetta Sommaruga.
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