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WION Climate Summit | Russian invasion reason to reduce fossil fuel dependence: EU envoy

WION Climate Summit | Russian invasion reason to reduce fossil fuel dependence: EU envoy

Wion summit

Ugo Astuto, European Union envoy to India put forth a unique approach to think about dependence on fossil fuels. He was a keynote speaker in WION's Climate Summit. In his speech, he made a reference to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"War has returned to Europe," he said. He stated 'unjustified Russian aggression as the reason behind the situation.

He noted that fuel prices had shot up post Russian invasion.

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"Russian aggression on Ukraine is another reason we have to reduce dependence on fossil fuels," he said.

In his address at the summit. Astuto said that though the world had pressing issues like the pandemic and Ukraine conflict to focus on, we 'don't have the luxury of not talking about climate'.

He said that Climate Change was a "global challenge" that needed a multilateral response.

"We need to act fast and act now," he said.

While noting that no one conference can fully solve the issue of Climate Change, he said that COP26 summit was a step towards reaching goals of Paris agreement.

He mentioned a number of areas in which the European Union was partnering with India. These included efforts to transition towards cleaner sources of energy, the International Solar Alliance and more.