The world is turning to coal as a substitute for Russian natural gas as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine erupts, resulting in more carbon emissions that may exacerbate climate change.

In an extreme scenario, if the European region were to use coal to replace all natural gas imports from Russia, it would emit 800 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in a single year, potentially jeopardizing global efforts to limit global warming within 2 degrees Celsius.

The surge in carbon emissions means that the global warming could exceed limits and future reductions in carbon emissions will have to be made faster and more sharply, Reuters quoted Morgan Stanley Capital International as saying in a report on the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on clean energy investments.

Russia is a major supplier of natural gas, oil and coal to EU countries, and the sanctions imposed on Russia by some countries since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict have led to an accelerated rise in energy prices.

As a result, some countries have called on the EU to ease its plans to phase out coal, but Valdis Dombrovskis, EU's vice president, recently said the EU would not waver in its decision to move away from fossil fuels.

Morgan Stanley said adhering to the EU's climate-friendly policies would require governments to provide more financing for renewable energy, reduce energy consumption and restart nuclear power plants.

The agency added that government intervention is necessary if investors fail to shift energy profits quickly to renewables.

(Writing by Alex Guo  Editing by Harry Huo)
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