In a recently published op-ed, Torbjörn Becker, Director of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics, discusses why Russia must be forced to pay a higher price for its war in Ukraine. Sanctions should be directed at oil and gas exports, and it is also time to increase the pressure on the banking system. Frozen Russian assets in the West could later become a good basis for Ukraine's reconstruction.

The recent record-high gas prices have triggered legitimate concerns regarding the EU’s energy security, especially with dependence on natural gas from Russia. This brief discusses the historical and current risks associated with Russian gas imports. SITE researchers Chloé Le Coq and Elena Paltseva argue that decreasing the reliance on Russian gas may not be feasible in the short-to-mid-run, especially with the EU’s goals of green transition and the electrification of the economy. To ensure the security of natural gas supply from Russia, the EU has to adopt the (long-proclaimed) coordinated energy policy strategy.

The need for urgent climate action and energy transformation away from fossil fuels is widely acknowledged. Yet, current country plans for emission reductions do not reach the requirements to contain global warming under 2°C. What is worse, there is even reasonable doubt about the commitment to said plans given recent history and existing future investment plans into fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure development. This policy brief shortly summarizes the presentations and discussions at the SITE Development Day Conference, held on December 8, 2021, focusing on climate change policies and the challenge of a green energy transition in Eastern Europe.

This year’s SITE Energy Talks – Energy Demand Management: Insights from Behavioral Economics, was devoted to discussing how consumers make energy efficiency decisions and what incentives can be used to change consumer behaviour.

Thomas Sterner, Professor of Environmental Economics at the University of Gothenburg, gave a presentation on technological development, geopolitical and environmental issues in our energy future at SITE Energy Talks, concerning the rapidly increasing level of carbon content, new technological development, the impact of low oil prices and the most promising ways to stop emissions.

The 11th SITE Energy Talks on the 24th of October will be devoted to discussing the technological development of energy industry and, geopolitical and environmental challenges in our energy future.

by Chloé Le Coq (with Henrik Orzen and Sebastian Schwenen), published in the Journal of Regulatory Economics

On November 5 Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (SITE) hosted 9th Energy Day - Economic Impacts of Oil Price Fluctuations. Conference presentations on the volatility of oil price forecasts, oil price fluctuations, new climate economy and other topics have been published for everyone interested in the energy field.

by Chloé Le Coq and Elena Paltseva, forthcoming as a chapter in "Russian Energy and Security up to 2030", edited by Susanne Oxenstierna and Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, Roothledge

by Elena Paltseva (with Jørgen Juel Andersen, Niels Johannesen, and David Dreyer Lassen), published in the Journal of the European Economic Association