Bloomberg: EU Is Omitting Climate in Energy Security Push: Prescott

The European Union risks losing ground in the fight against climate change as it tries to shore up energy security in response to concerns about dependence on Russian gas, said John Prescott, the bloc’s lead negotiator for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

The annexation of Crimea by Russia has pushed the issue of energy security to the top of the European political agenda as the 28-nation bloc devises plans to cut reliance on natural gas imports from Russia’s OAO Gazprom. That risks overshadowing the debate about cutting greenhouse gases, according to Prescott, former deputy prime minister of the U.K.

“The great danger is it’s all becoming energy security,” Prescott said. The meetings will aim to isolate Russia, and “will have nothing to say on climate change.”
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