Munich, Germany - Today, Greenpeace activists from Germany are protesting the EU's growing dependence on US gas just as the Munich Security Conference is kicking off. With US Secretary of State Marco Rubio expected to attend the conference, activists unfurled a 15×6 meter banner reading "Break free from tyrants" atop a tower crane. On Marienplatz, only a stone's throw from the conference site, other activists inflated 10-metre-long representations of Putin and Trump sitting on a gas tanker, to symbolise Europe's dependence on fossil fuel imports from tyrants.
Since 2022, EU-headquartered companies have signed an estimated €190-€210 billion worth of US liquefied gas contracts, according to calculations by Greenpeace International.[1] Many of these contracts have a duration far beyond 2035, the year by which the European Union (EU) must completely phase out fossil gas in order to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.[2] As an average of two tankers carrying liquefied gas from the United States (US) arrive in Europe every day, European countries already spent an estimated €2.8 billion on US gas since the start of the year.[3] Greenpeace urges leaders to cut Trump gas dependency and develop the EU's energy security through homegrown renewable energy.
Lisa Göldner, fossil fuel campaigner from Greenpeace Germany:
"We are here today to highlight a very concrete security threat for Europe: its energy import dependency, and its growing reliance on gas from the US. Just as the EU is finally moving away from Russian gas imports, it risks replacing one unreliable gas dealer for another. The more Europe depends on the United States for energy, the greater the vulnerability to pressure by Trump. The only way for Europe to protect its political independence and achieve true energy security is to phase out fossil gas and accelerate the shift to a fully renewable energy system."
The EU does not require additional US gas to ensure its energy security. It is already decreasing its gas consumption, and the implementation of its Fit for 55 and REPowerEU commitments will reinforce this trend, with fossil gas consumption reduced by more than 50% in 2030, from 2021 levels. While phasing out Russian gas, it has also demonstrated that, with determination, it can swiftly implement the necessary measures to disengage from an unreliable partner.[4]
For Greenpeace, it is now time for EU leaders to drop the pledge to purchase $750 billion worth of US energy by 2028 and all other negotiations on additional purchase agreements for US gas, commit to not sign new contracts and gradually terminate all existing supply contracts by 2035 at the latest.
