Europe faces transition trade-offs amid Russian crisis

More use of coal-fired power is likely in the short term, while new North Sea projects are not the answer, ETC chair Adair Turner tells Transition Economist

Europe will have to accept some transition trade-offs to tackle the energy crisis triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, says Adair Turner, chair of thinktank the Energy Transitions Commission. Nobody should abandon 2050 net-zero goals, but policymakers need to recognise and “face head on” the need for trade-offs between what is good for short-term energy security and what is good for climate, Turner tells Transition Economist. Turner rejects the idea of developing new North Sea oil and gas projects to help compensate for the loss of Russian supplies. “We do not believe that we should be doing whole big new oil and gas exploration and production in the North Sea because, in the timescale