A senior European Union official has stressed the need for Group of Seven energy and environment ministers to discuss promoting a circular economy in which resources are reused and recycled.
European Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries, Virginijus Sinkevicius, made the remarks in an interview with NHK at the EU headquarters in Belgium.
The interview took place ahead of the G7 Ministers’ Meeting on Climate, Energy, and Environment that got underway in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo on Saturday. Sinkevicius is attending the two-day meeting.
The commissioner talked about Europe’s efforts to cope with a decline of natural gas supplies from Russia after the country’s invasion of Ukraine began in February last year.
He said the EU survived the winter by diversifying its procurement sources and boosting storage.
He said Europe managed to overcome the uncertainty of natural gas supplies. He added that the EU needs to build on this success to become fully independent from Russian fossil fuels, and overall from fossil fuels.
Sinkevicius also referred to concerns over dependence on certain countries, including China, for the procurement of lithium and other key minerals that are essential for the transition to renewable energy. He said he thinks it is good that the concern is shared.
He noted that large-scale renewable energy projects require critical raw materials but that Europe can diversify its procurement sources of those materials.
The EU is planning to implement new rules to collect and recycle batteries that are essential for the expansion of renewable energy.
Sinkevicius noted that the use of batteries is going to rise significantly. He said that before that increase happens, Europe needs to have rules in place to ensure that all batteries sold on the EU market are sustainable and recyclable.
He pointed to the importance of a circular economy in securing a stable supply of critical minerals.
