Europeans support the transition to renewable energy, and two in five respondents said they would be willing to pay more to speed up the transition, writes Politico.
Politico’s European Pulse poll was conducted in six European countries – Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Poland and Belgium. Public support for renewable energy has increased due to the Iran war, which once again highlighted the vulnerability of the European Union to fluctuations in the international energy market. The favorable public sentiment could help Brussels in its efforts to replace imported fossil fuels with domestically produced renewable energy sources.
The results of the poll suggest that European governments may face less public resistance to the construction of wind turbines and solar panel parks. The results suggest that, rather than trying to convince voters, there is already a broad base of supporters for renewable energy, especially as energy security has become a permanent fixture on the political agenda.
The conflict in the Middle East has made Europe think more about a vulnerability that it has long failed to adequately address: its dependence on imported fossil fuels. After Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine forced Europe to abandon Russian natural gas, it turned to other suppliers from Norway, the United States, Algeria and Qatar. However, diversifying import routes has not completely eliminated the risks, and the war in Iran, which has halted a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas exports from the Persian Gulf, has made this clear.
EU officials are using the crisis as an opportunity to emphasize that
the transition to renewable energy is not only a climate strategy, but also a security strategy.
EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen has called on governments to focus more on renewable energy, saying that clean energy capacity, strengthened grids and stronger market integration are critical to protecting Europe from external shocks.
Public opinion echoes Jørgensen’s arguments, but the picture is not uniform. In Italy, 49% of citizens support an accelerated transition to renewable energy, followed by Germany with 43%. In France and Spain, respondents expressed support closer to the EU average, while in Poland only 27% support a faster transition. Estonian public broadcaster ERR News reports that a poll conducted by Emor shows a decline in support for the transition to “green” energy. While 45% of respondents supported it last September, support has fallen to 35% in the latest poll.
A key issue for many Europeans is cost, with 23% saying Europe should slow down the transition to avoid higher bills. At the same time, Europeans overwhelmingly support a more self-sufficient energy strategy, with 93% saying Europe should build its own large energy companies that are competitive on the international market.
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