Tony Blair Institute's European energy strategy: comment
Comment on new TBI report on the Europe-wide energy system

By Jess Ralston
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Commenting on the new paper from The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) on Europe-wide energy system reform published today [1], Jess Ralston, Head of Energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said:
"With next year predicted to be the hottest on record [2] and governments' national security reports warning of the risk of collapsing ecosystems in the 2030s undermining the UK’s food security, [3] many experts would point to the need for a climate and energy security focused system. But they’d also say that these are mutually supportive.
"Europe would have been in a much worse mess after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war in Iran had it not spent years investing in renewable energy. Spain currently has lower power prices because of its renewables. [4]Let’s not forget that reaching net zero emissions is the only way to bring our climate back into balance and stop climate change but to do so means reducing our dependence on burning oil and gas, the price of which has had massive negative impacts on Europe’s economy and competitiveness."
Notes to editors:
1. Report published 00:01 Tue 5 May.
2. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2525229-2026-will-be-the-hottest-year-on-record-leading-scientist-predicts/
3. https://eciu.net/media/press-releases/national-security-assessment-of-climate-and-biodiversity-loss-comment-2
4. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/28/blackout-spain-renewable-energy-grid-solar-wind
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