Russia’s aggression against Ukraine was made possible by the colossal revenues that the Russian government has received from selling gas and oil. Every Euro paid for Russian energy supports a murderous war, killing children, destroying the homes of peaceful people, decimating cities, and causing millions of lost or war-torn lives.

The European Union and several countries outside the EU (including the United States and the UK) have already made great strides towards reducing or even completely eliminating their import of Russian gas and oil. However, some countries have not only continued but even substantially increased their import of Russian energy. Although the price of Russian oil and gas substantially decreased due to the import ban and import reductions by the EU and other countries, resulting also in a decrease of the related revenues of the Russian government, much more should be done to stop money flowing to the Russian war machine.

Practically every citizen can contribute to depriving Russia of its oil and gas revenues by reducing his or her consumption quickly and simply. What’s more, thus they can save money for themselves. For example, just dressing more warmly and reducing the temperature of one’s home can save 7% of the energy used for heating. There are many other practical measures by which one can reduce energy consumption at home and in the office.

Russia’s revenues from the export of oil and oil products are almost four times greater than from its export of gas. For this reason, it is of utmost importance to reduce oil consumption. In the world, about 50% of the oil is consumed by road transport and more than 8% by aviation. Therefore, travelling less by car and flying less can substantially diminish oil use. This is recommended also by the International Energy Agency. There are also civil society movements which promote the reduction of car use (for example, the Clean Cities Campaign) and flying (for example, the European Federation for Transport and Environment, T&E).

Reducing oil consumption would decrease Russia’s revenues because it would be able to sell less oil and also because lower consumption usually results in lower market prices. However, there is a serious threat: with lower market prices higher consumption might ensue, i.e. people might buy more fuel for their cars. In order to avoid this, governments should increase fuel taxes and use part of the revenues to compensate vulnerable citizens. Already several countries have embarked on such a reform and quite a lot of civil society organisations advocate it (for example, 24 NGOs wrote a letter to the European Commission, asking to promote among EU member states the raising of fuel taxes and providing appropriate compensation).

So, individuals can help to end Russia’s aggression by changing their lifestyles and supporting civil society organisations which work for this aim. They can also help by disseminating information (e.g. this video) about the relationship between the war and fossil fuel consumption.

András Lukács
President of Clean Air Action Group, Hungary