Igor Sechin, the head of Russian oil giant Rosneft, said on Thursday that the ongoing gas shortages in Europe reflected the impacts of moving away too fast from fossil-based energy sources, adding that underinvestment could threaten future supply. Sechin said global oil and gas investment this year would be only half the level of 2014, adding that renewables would not be able fully to replace conventional energy sources in the long term. He also said that reaching carbon neutrality could be done without completely leaving oil, gas, and coal.
Sechin’s remarks highlight the resistance from Russia’s massive energy sector to embrace a quick shift to low-carbon energy sources. Russia is the world’s fourth-biggest greenhouse gas emitter but has said it plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. It faces a huge challenge in weaning its economy of hydrocarbons while at the same time under growing pressure to bring forward its carbon-neutrality target by ten years.
