Is Energy Security the New 'Net Zero'?

Abstract

As the economies in the West are facing the very real prospect of stagflation, we have seen a shift in thinking. As oil and gas prices are going through the roof following the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, energy security rather than net-zero has for the moment moved up on the agenda. Larry Summers the former US Treasury secretary in an interview for the BBC this week argued on the that any recessionary impact from those higher prices would be less hard than what we experienced due to Covid. He also thought that any worsening in this prognosis that might follow a decision at any point to cut Russia's ability to export oil and gas to the West would be worth it in the longer term as ' freedom has its price' and restoring world order was paramount.