Yet there would be enough to do in Russia itself to improve the living conditions of everyone, not just the corrupt Putin clique, and also to advance a climate-neutral economy.
In addition, there are propaganda slogans about the necessary denazification, while Putin himself acts like a new Hitler. This makes it all the more important to stop him - and to stop filling Russia's war chest with gas, oil and coal exports. 70% of Russia's state revenues come from oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear energy deals, according to Energy Watch Group. State revenues fund its military.
High share of Russian gas, coal and crude oil imports
And Europe and Germany have been financing this to date. Last year, more than 40 percent of the natural gas consumed in Europe came from Russia, in Germany it was more than 50 percent. The situation is similar for coal and oil. 50 percent of German hard coal imports and around 35 percent of crude oil imports come from Russia.
All the more reason to get even more serious about the energy transition in Europe and Germany and rely on the "free energies" of the sun, wind and the like, and not just in the electricity sector. Last year, renewable energies accounted for just over 16 percent of total energy consumption in Germany. So we still have a long way to go, both an opportunity and a challenge.
Many levers to pull – a different lifestyle
It is also clear that the transition to a supply-secure, climate-neutral circular economy has many levers to pull, in addition to the expansion of renewable energies, above all energy efficiency and energy conservation, recycling, different logistics chains, different mobility behavior, a different diet, finally a different lifestyle that challenges everyone. (hcn)
