In order to get away from the gas used by the war criminal Putin, Germany concludes an energy pact with Qatar, which has been criticized for human rights violations. Does it have to be that way?
These are remarkable images that Robert Habeck delivered from Doha this Sunday. Habeck having a friendly chat with the Qatari energy minister in the hotel lounge. Habeck bowing deeply while shaking hands with the Qatari Minister of Trade. Habeck with a thoughtful look in front of the Persian Gulf, in some break between the numerous meetings that are supposed to help secure Germany’s energy supply.
After the meeting with the Emir, Habeck announced that it was “greatly” agreed to agree on a long-term energy partnership. Details still have to be negotiated, but one thing is clear: Qatar should deliver more liquid gas to Germany in order to become more independent from Russia more quickly.
It is a morally delicate mission: only recently Germany was vehemently discussing boycotts and protests against the World Cup in Qatar. At the end of November, an annual general meeting of FC Bayern escalated because the fans do not want their club to be sponsored by an autocratic regime that has been criticized for human rights violations. Now a green economics and climate protection minister is traveling to the reviled country to personally ask the emir and his most important people for the delivery of liquid gas.
Expelling Putin with the Emir?
Putin’s brutal attack on Ukraine not only shakes the certainty of Germany’s energy supply. It also readjusts the ranking of who deals with which are still acceptable. Habeck himself put it this way in the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung”: “There is always a difference between a non-democratic state, in which the human rights situation is problematic, and an authoritarian state, which is waging an aggressive war in front of our door that violates international law make a difference. We cannot exclude all countries from deliveries.”
That means: All of a sudden we are paying for a murderous war of aggression in Europe with our gas bill. And in order to get rid of its dependency on Russia quickly, Germany now needs all the gas it can get. Habeck puts a lot of effort into this. He has already visited the USA, the major exporter of liquid gas, and Norway, Europe’s most important supplier country, and now his shopping tour is taking him to the LNG world power Qatar.
Not everyone finds the latter acceptable. Critics rightly point to the miserable situation of guest workers in Qatar. Inadequate women’s rights, homophobia and support for radical Islamic groups. The country is a non-democratic monarchy based on Sharia. The accusation: You cannot remove one despot from the delivery list and replace it with the next rogue state.
way out of the energy transition
However, Habeck is not wrong with his core argument: Qatar is not currently waging a war of annihilation. And without imports from countries like Qatar, it will probably be impossible to replace the enormous Russian share of energy imports in the short term.
In addition, it is not about making itself as dependent on Qatar as Germany is currently on Russia. The emirate is just one of several LNG supplier countries. Even if Germany wanted to, Qatar could not begin to replace the Russian quantities. Qatar is one of the world’s largest LNG exporters, but long-term supply agreements already exist for much of the capacity, especially with Asian countries.
Anyone who sees gas from Qatar as a no-go should also consider that other raw materials also come from dubious partners. Oil, for example, comes mostly from Russia, but also from Libya and Azerbaijan. And one of Germany’s most important trading partners is China, an authoritarian state that oppresses the Uyghurs, has sacked Hong Kong and is threatening Taiwan. It is difficult to move in global trade while avoiding all non-democratic countries with dubious rule of law.
When it comes to energy supply, there is at least a long-term way out of fossil raw materials, which are dirty in every respect: the expansion of renewable energies, which has been delayed for so long. By 2045, Germany is to become climate-neutral. Then you wouldn’t need gas from either Russia or Qatar. Habeck travels to the United Arab Emirates on Monday. There it should then be about green hydrogen.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
