CIVIL SOCIETY APPEAL TO EU AND G7: PLUG ENERGY SANCTIONS LOOPHOLES AND STRENGTHEN ENFORCEMENT TO END THE WAR

Open letter to G7 and European Union leaders

21 February 2024

Open letter to:

Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic of France

Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany

Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy

Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan

Rishi Sunak, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Joe Biden, President of the United States of America

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission

Charles Michel, President of the European Council

Roberta Metsola, President of the European Parliament

Civil society appeal to EU and G7: Plug energy sanctions loopholes and strengthen enforcement to end the war

Dear G7 and European Union leaders,

The European Union and G7 should tighten their grip on Russia’s key revenue streams from exports of fossil fuels, ban Russian LNG gas imports and close all loopholes in existing sanctions. It is good that Europe supports Ukraine financially and militarily. But it is just as important to fully end the financing of the Russian war machine through fossil fuel imports, which is still a reality, say more than 300 European, international and Ukrainian NGOs in a public appeal to leaders.

Sanctioning countries have significantly reduced their reliance on Russian fossil fuels, but more must be done to stop purchasing fuels that finance the Kremlin’s war chest. Through measures such as the EU oil import ban and G7 price cap, Russia’s export earnings from oil have been cut by 14%, costing them EUR 34 billion. However, the oil price cap’s impact is far short of what could have been achieved with greater monitoring and enforcement of the policy, paired with a lower price level. Two years on, the EU and G7 have purchased EUR 202 bln of fossil fuels from Russia since Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russia’s war as an onslaught on international rules-based order, democracy and human rights. We welcome the recent decision by the European Council to support Ukraine with EUR 50 billion in aid. However, the EU’s recent aid commitment represents 27% of their total fossil fuel imports purchased from Russia since the beginning of their full-scale invasion, estimated at over EUR 185 billion. More needs to be done to support our allies and wean the EU off of the Russian fossil fuel exports that fund the war, including a complete phase-out of Russian pipeline gas.

The EU has introduced 12 consecutive sanctions packages on the Russian economy, designed to deprive the aggressor of access to finance, insurance, advanced technologies, and engineering services and to limit its export earnings. The EU and G7 have also adopted a globally applicable price cap on Russian oil in December 2022. Yet, insufficient enforcement and the lack of comprehensive sanctions against Russia’s fossil fuel exports are downgrading the efficiency of the sanctions regime and undermining the overall efforts to deprive Russia of economic means for waging war.

Russia’s 2024 federal budget increases to the military-industrial complex doubled compared to 2022, unprecedented military spending since Soviet times. The major shift sends a third of all governmental funding to the army, threatening regional stability and the future of democracy and security in Europe. Meanwhile, Russia expects to replenish its budget with 11.5 trillion rubles (USD 127 billion) from oil and gas sector revenues. Russia can spend so lavishly on its military mainly because of its oil and gas revenues.

The EU and G7 countries contribute to this expanding war chest by inadequately enforcing sanctions against Russian oil and gas and leaving loopholes wide open that Russia exploits daily.

In solidarity with the Ukrainian people, the groups demand the G7 and EU take the following actions:

1. Fully enforce and lower price caps on Russian crude oil and oil products and introduce transparent and verifiable compliance mechanisms for oil traders and shippers, especially those who operate European-owned and P&I (Protection & Indemnity) insured tankers that export Russian oil. The price cap on Russian crude oil should be set much closer to its production cost (averaging USD 15 per barrel), at USD 30 per barrel, which would have slashed Russia’s revenue by EUR 37 bn (25%).

2. Prevent Russia from further expanding the shadow fleet of dangerous, practically uninsured and unaccountable old tankers, operating through illegal and dubious management arrangements and lacking transparency in ownership. This is necessary not only to reduce Russia’s ability to finance the war of aggression with oil money but also to prevent looming environmental catastrophes from possible major oil spills. The EU and G7 should introduce a spill insurance verification programme for vessels that travel through their waters. This could exclude ‘shadow’ tankers without spill insurance from travelling through their most travelled route from Baltic ports whilst reducing the risk of environmental catastrophe. If this policy banned many ‘shadow’ tankers from transporting oil from the Baltic and Black Sea ports, it could increase Russia’s reliance on legally insured vessels and enhance the leverage of the oil price cap policy.

3. Close the “refining loophole”, which allows EU and G7 countries to import oil products — mainly diesel, jet fuel and gasoline — produced from Russian oil at refineries in third countries like India, Turkey or UAE. The “refining loophole” legally allows Russian oil to be processed and flow into the EU and G7 countries, preserving Russian export volumes and earnings.

4. Fully ban liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports from Russia and its transhipment in European ports for exports to other countries. In 2022-2023, the exports of Russian LNG to global markets were expanding, while the opposite is required to cut the Kremlin’s budgetary income that funds the war of aggression and avoid the severe climate impacts of uncontrolled and unaccounted methane emissions in the Russian LNG supply chain. The EU should keep true to the commitments under the REpowerEU plan and also fully ban Russian pipeline gas imports.

5. Take decisive actions to reduce oil and gas consumption and end import dependency to deflate the Russian war economy. Such actions include requiring company car fleets in Europe to shift to all-electric vehicles, which would help minimise petroleum demand and oil prices. Further efforts can consist of banning the installation of gas-fired boilers in new or retrofitted buildings, facilitating the accelerated market roll-out of heat pumps, prohibiting the production of single-use plastics, adopting and implementing ambitious energy efficiency improvement plans and streamlining permitting and providing governmental support for the construction of renewable energy projects. Follow-up on implementation of widely announced decarbonisation commitments is also essential.

We underscore that tightening sanctions against Russian oil and gas exports isn’t just about ending a war – it’s about dismantling the foundation that enables autocracy to thrive. It’s a global imperative to foster energy independence, peace, climate action and democratic resilience. We also must swiftly welcome Ukraine into the European Union.

Signatories:

1.    Transport & Environment   Belgium, EU

2.    NGO Center for Environmental Initiatives “Ecoaction”   Ukraine

3.    Razom We Stand   Ukraine

4.    Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA)   United Kingdom

5.    Deutsche Umwelthilfe   Germany

6.    Leave it in the Ground Initiative (LINGO)   Belgium

7.    Green Transition Denmark    Denmark

8.    Bond Beter Leefmilieu   Belgium

9.    Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center    Ukraine

10.    Danube-Carpathian Programme    Ukraine,    Ukraine

11.    Climate Action for Lifelong Learners (CALL)   Canada

12.    For a Better Bayou   USA

13.    2Celsius   Romania

14.    VšĮ Žiedinė ekonomika   Lithuania

15.    EKOenergy ecolabel   Finland

16.    Net Impact The Gambia   Gambia

17.    Oil and Gas Action Network   USA

18.    Wall of Women   USA

19.    Institute of legislative ideas   Ukraine

20.    Egyptian Green Party   Egypt

21.    Earth Action, Inc.   USA

22.    Disability Peoples Forum Uganda   Uganda

23.    International Partnership for Human Rights    Belgium

24.    Public Eye   Switzerland

25.    Clean Air Action Group   Hungary

26.    Expert Forum (EFOR)   Romania

27.    ICO “Environment – People – Law”   Ukraine

28.    NGO “Technology of Progress”   Ukraine

29.    NGO “Open Data Association”   Ukraine

30.    Milieudefensie | Friends of the Earth NL   Netherlands

31.    NGO Ecoclub     Rivne   Ukraine

32.    Transform Scotland   Scotland

33.    Uplift   United Kingdom

34.    NGO Sustainable Development Agency SYNERGY    Ukraine

35.    NGO Social Initiative “City of the Sun”   Ukraine

36.    Black Sea Women’s Club   Ukraine

37.    NGO Environmental Club Eremurus   Ukraine

38.    Anti-corruption Headquarters    Ukraine

39.    NGO Ekoltava    Ukraine

40.    Institute for Social and Economic Transformation   Ukraine

41.    Planet Botanical Garden   Ukraine

42.    Plato NGO   Ukraine

43.    Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group   Ukraine

44.    Anti-Corruption Research and Education Centre   Ukraine

45.    Andy Gheorghiu Consulting   Germany

46.    Clean Cities Campaign Poland   Poland

47.    Nordic Ukraine Forum   Sweden

48.    EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy   Czech Republic

49.    Formando Rutas   Germany

50.    FPPE   Poland

51.    Center for the Study of Democracy   Bulgaria

52.    Association “Energy Efficient Cities of Ukraine”   Ukraine

53.    Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU) e.V.   Germany

54.    Rainforest Action Network   USA

55.    Uppsala University    Sweden

56.    Institute for Economic Research and Policy Consulting   Ukraine

57.    Eco Bucha   Ukraine

58.    Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V.   Germany

59.    CEE Bankwatch Network   Romania

60.    Instytut Spraw Obywatelskich   Poland

61.    Center for international cooperation and project implementation    Ukraine

62.    350.org   France

63.    Kyiv Municipal League of Public Organizations of People with Disabilities    Ukraine

64.    National Ecological Center of Ukraine   Ukraine

65.    Center for International Environmental Law   France

66.    Ecosense, NGO   Ukraine

67.    U-Cycle ( NGO Kyiv Cyclists’ Association)   Ukraine

68.    Earth Action, Inc.   USA

69.    Aid Organization   Bangladesh

70.    Net Impact The Gambia   Gambia

71.    Agency for sustainable development of the Carpathian region “FORZA”    Ukraine

72.    Women Engage for a Common Future – WECF   Netherlands

73.    Africa Bureau For Climate stories-ABOS    Kenya

74.   TRAFFED-RDC AMIS D’AROCHA   DRC

75. Asociación Con Ucrania    Spain

76. Climate Action Campaign, Humboldt Unitarian Universalist Fellowship    USA

77. Adarsha Samajik Progoti Sangstha    Bangladesh

78. Green 13   Canada

79. Associazione Cristiana degli Ucraini in Italia    Italy

80. Rozviy, Youth Climate Initiative   Ukraine

81. Minerva Ventures   USA

82. NGO “Green World”    Ukraine

83. UWEC Work Group   Georgia

84. Gower Street   United Kingdom

85. GDU Project Helmholtz Center Berlin   Germany

86. VCS Verkehrs-Club der Schweiz   Switzerland

87. NGO Plato   Ukraine

88. Chaloupky o.p.s.   Czech Republic

89. Just Finance International    Europe

90. Promote Ukraine   Belgium

91. Bellona Europa   Belgium

92. Estonian Green Movement   Estonia

93. Social Justice Committee, St. Andrew’s United Church of Canada, Halifax     Canada

94. Grandmothers Act to Save the Planet (GASP)   Canada

95. The Secretariat of the Steering Committee of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum  Belgium

96. 198 methods   USA

97. Global Witness   United Kingdom

98. Atlantic Energy    United Kingdom

99. Zero Waste Society   Ireland

100.   Canopea   Belgium

101.   Limity jsme my   Czech republic

102.   Earthsight   United Kingdom

103. Businesses for a Livable Climate   USA

104. Call to Action Colorado   USA

105. CatholicNetwork US   USA

106.    Colorado Businesses for a Livable Climate   USA

107.    Community for Sustainable Energy   USA

110.    Greater New Orleans Housing Alliance   USA

111.    Green House Connection Center   USA

112.    Indivisible Ambassadors   USA

113.    Interstate 70 Citizens Advisory Group   USA

114.    Larimer Alliance for Health, Safety, & Environment   USA

115.    Littleton Business Alliance   USA

116.    Mayfair Park Neighborhood Association   USA

117.    Mental Health & Inclusion Ministries   USA

118.    Mind’s Eye Productions   USA

119.    Montbello Neighborhood Improvement Association   USA

120.    North Range Concerned Citizens   USA

121.    Our Sacred Earth   USA

122.    RapidShift Network   USA

123.    Save the Environmental Protection Agency   USA

124.    Small Business Alliance   USA

125.    Southwest Organization for Sustainability   USA

126.    Spirit of the Sun   USA

127.    System Change Not Climate Change   USA

128.    Texas Campaign for the Environment   USA

129.    Unite North Metro Denver   USA

130.    Wall of Women   USA

131.    Western Slope Businesses for a Livable Climate   USA

132.    Womxn from the Mountain   USA

133.    Working for Racial Equity   USA

134.    Climate Risk Horizons   India

135.    ZERO – Association for the Earth System Sustainability   Portugal

136.    Association of Ethical Shareholders    Germany

137.    Ukrainian Network of Integrity and Compliance (UNIC)   Ukraine

138.    NGO “Unique Planet”   Ukraine

139.    NGO Green Liberty   Ukraine

140.    NGO SaveDnipro   Ukraine

141.    NGO “Office for the Environment”   Ukraine

142.    NGO “Green Generation”   Ukraine

143.    Economic Expert Platform                       Ukraine

144.    Civil Network OPORA                             Ukraine

145.    WWF-Ukraine                                          Ukraine

146.    Centre for Liberal Modernity (LibMod)    Germany

147.    Greenpeace CEE                                    Ukraine

148.    Vitsche e.V.                                              Germany

149.    Fridays For Future Ukraine                      Ukraine

150-239. Business for Ukraine Coalition, on behalf of 89 international and Ukrainian members.

240-250. Energy Transition Coalition, uniting 10 Ukrainian organizations.

251-300+. RISE Ukraine Coalition, uniting more than 50 organizations.

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