This joint open letter was addressed to the EU Commission in July 2020, demanding that no public money goes to the Eastmed-Poseidon pipeline project (or any other gas project), before the EU Commission makes a decision in October. In the previous CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) call the Eastmed-Poseidon was awarded money, and this has to stop.
The project, which has PCI status, would carry gas from between Israel & Cyrpus to Italy, via Cyrpus and Greece. It would be the world’s deepest and longest offshore pipeline. It is also rife with geopolitical tensions, and connected to militarization and arms deals.
We believe no public money should be awarded to such a project. Instead, it must be channelled towards projects supporting a clean and sustainable future-proof economy for all, that center peoples’ rights and safety.
Dear Ms Juul-Jørgensen, dear Mr Balke,
We are writing to you during difficult times, amidst a global pandemic and a looming economic crisis bringing unimaginable hardship, particularly for the underprivileged and marginalized members of our society, as well as grief and pain to many.
We face intersecting crises; health, economic, environmental, social and climate crises. Even before the coronavirus, it was deeply irresponsible, dangerous and out of line with the Paris Agreement to invest in new fossil fuel projects. Now more than ever, funding decisions need to be environmentally and socially responsible. Public money and support must be used to boost truly sustainable, community-led, renewable energy sources and infrastructures that provide sustainable high-quality jobs while contributing to the health of people and the planet. We cannot afford to spend more money on new fossil gas projects, and the EastMed/Poseidon project is a case in point.
In October 2020, the European Commission will publish a decision on how to distribute almost €1 billion of Connecting Europe Facility funding to so-called Projects of Common Interest. In the light of the health crisis and the climate emergency, fossil gas projects should not be awarded public money through the CEF call or any other public funding instrument. In addition, to avoid further EU support for fossil gas, all fossil fuel projects must be excluded from the next PCI list.
The EastMed/Poseidon pipeline project (2 connecting pipelines) is a stark example of an unnecessary polluting fossil fuel project, which has swallowed several million Euros of EU tax money already and risks receiving further support[1]. In order to pay off investments, these pipelines would make it necessary to exploit a considerable amount of the gas in the Eastern Mediterranean if they are built, with catastrophic impacts on our economies, health, climate and the environment.
Giving more funding to the Eastmed/Poseidon, or any other new fossil gas projects, would render the EU’s ‘green’ aspirations completely redundant.
- More fossil gas is incompatible with the Paris agreement, the EU Green Deal, the Climate Law and the 2050 climate neutrality objective; The EastMed and Poseidon pipelines are designed to carry up to 20 billion cubic metres of fossil gas annually. Fossil gas is a dangerous fossil fuel, consisting mainly of methane which has an estimated global warming impact over 86 times higher than that of CO2 over the next 20 years.
- No public money should be spent on new fossil fuel infrastructure; The cost of the EastMed pipeline alone is estimated to amount to €7 billion and risks being even higher. The EU will have to reduce its gas demand drastically in the coming years. Adding more mega-pipelines, particularly this economically problematic pipeline, to the already oversized European gas grid[2] will likely lead to the creation of stranded assets, at times when each and every Euro needs to be spent wisely to protect our societies.
- The project breaches the Governance Regulation and the overarching Energy Efficiency First (EE1st) Principle; If the EU had applied EE1st to the EastMed/Poseidon pipeline, the project would never have been eligible for any funding. The project is not needed to diversify security of supply as more efficient financial, climate and environmental solutions to the pipeline exist and any funding must be directed to these alternatives. Allocating any public money to the pipeline goes against the overarching EE1st principle and breaches the provisions of the EU Governance Regulation[3].
- EU fossil gas demand is projected to decrease significantly; There is no need for this pipeline to secure European energy supply. With gas demand projections in mind, the futility of this project is even more blatant. Planned drilling activities in the Cyprus fields have already been delayed until 2021 due to the gas price collapse[4], and the closer we get to 2050, the less sense it makes to invest in gas infrastructure with a clear expiry date.
- Exacerbating political tensions; Eastmed and Poseidon pipelines risk increasing tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The offshore gas fields are located in geopolitically sensitive zones of the Mediterranean that are constantly subject to political conflicts leading to heated incidents, which pose a constant threat to fragile peace keeping. Rising tensions due to fossil gas extraction have already resulted in Turkey sending warships to stop drillships[5] and risk amplifying already existing conflicts between Palestine and Israel, exacerbating unequal power dynamics in the region.
Adding to these geopolitical tensions is the growing involvement of the United States, where an ExxonMobil-backed bill passed not long ago which includes US support for EU gas infrastructure and lifts the prohibition of US weapons transfers to Cyprus.
By supporting this pipeline, the EU ignores people in the region, who are already facing political conflicts and suffering from worsening climate change.
- Communities on the pipeline route will suffer; It is not only communities in gas extraction regions who face major negative impacts, but also those affected by the construction of mega-infrastructures. People in Southern Italy opposing a similar mega-pipeline project, the TAP-pipeline, saw heavy repression by the Italian government while the construction works put the livelihoods of local community members depending on tourism and agriculture in danger. Despite a nation-wide confinement due to the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, works continued on the TAP pipeline, classified as essential infrastructure, exposing workers and the population to unnecessary health risks. The Poseidon pipeline would reach the Italian shore in the same area as the contested TAP pipeline, having a further negative effect on the already suffering region.
- Difficult construction and threat to ecosystems; The Eastmed pipeline is planned to be the deepest pipeline ever laid on the seabed, at over 3000m under the sea level and in seismically active areas. This will make it extremely difficult and costly to detect and fix leaks and will significantly harm sensitive ecosystems of the Mediterannean Sea.
We call on you to use your influence to withdraw any support, be it of regulatory, financial or any other nature, to this project. Please act in the interest of the young people of today and future generations by moving money and support away from climate- and environment- wrecking projects like these mega-pipelines and channel it towards projects supporting a clean and sustainable future-proof economy for all.
We, the signatories of this letter would appreciate it if you could provide your availability for a joint online-meeting to further discuss our concerns about supporting and funding fossil gas projects, and specifically the Eastmed/Poseidon project. Please contact Food & Water Action Europe via fkieninger@fweurope.org concerning next steps about organizing a meeting.
Kind regards,
Naomi Kreitman, Gastivists (Europe)
Ya’ara Peretz, Green Course (Israel)
Frida Kieninger, Food & Water Action Europe (Europe)
On behalf of
Countries along the pipeline
Friends of the Earth Cyprus (Cyprus)
The Climate Collective (Greece)
Young Friends of the Earth Cyprus (Cyprus)
Cyprus Green Action Group (Cyprus)
Mediterranean Information Office for Environment, Culture and Sustainable Development (Greece)
Support Earth – Steering Committee (Greece)
Greenpeace Greece (Greece)
Greenpeace Israel (Israel)
Re:Common (Italy)
Trivelle Zero Marche (Italy)
Falkatraz Laboratorio dell’Autogestione (Italy)
Comitato Cittadini E Lavoratori Liberi E Pensanti Taranto (Italy)
Comitati cittadini per l’ambiente (Italy)
Studenti della Redazione di Emergenzaclimatica.it (Italy)
Movimento No TAP/SNAM (Italy)
No Hub Del Gas Abruzzo (Italy)
Coordinamento Nazionale No Triv (Italy)
Coordinamento NO SNAM (Italy)
Rete Legalità per il Clima (Italy)
Casa Del Popolo di Torre Santa Susanna (Italy)
Comitato “I Discoli del Sinarca (Italy)
Comitato Per la Transizione Energetica Brindisi (Italy)
Greenpeace Italy (Italy)
Other European organizations
Global Witness (Europe)
Friends of the Earth Europe (Europe)
Counter Balance (Europe)
Climate Action Network Europe (Europe)
Young Friends of the Earth Europe (Europe)
SEE Change Net (Europe)
Urgewald (Germany)
Not Here, Not Anywhere (Ireland)
Keep Ireland Fracking Free (Ireland)
Red Line Campaign (Portugal)
Ecologistas en Acción (Spain)
Debt Observatory in Globalisation (Spain, Catalonia)
Talk Fracking (UK)
International
Coastal Livelihood and Environmental Action Network (Bangladesh)
Velehuen ONG (Chile)
Oil Change International (International)
Leave it in the Ground Initiative (International)
Nadi Ghati Morcha (India)
Environics Trust (India)
Tax and Fiscal Justice Alliance (Nepal)
All Nepal Peasant Federation Association (Nepal)
Earthworks (United States)
Coalition to Protect New York (United States)
Upper Valley Affinity Group (United States)
Earth Action, Inc. (United States)
[1] The Eastmed/Poseidon pipeline is a 1900 km mega-infrastructure project that consists of 2 connecting pipelines: Eastmed, which is planned to carry gas potentially extracted from offshore Israel, Cyprus and maybe other countries, via Cyprus and Crete to mainland Greece; and its prolongation to Italy, Poseidon, which would continue gas transportation from mainland Greece to Italy via the Adriatic Sea ending in Otranto, Italy.
[2] Global Energy Monitor (2020). Gas at a Crossroads: Why the EU should not continue to expand its gas infrastructure. https://globalenergymonitor.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Gas_at_a_Crossroads_EU.pdf
[3] The Energy Efficiency First principle (EE1st) has been established in the Governance Regulation as “the overarching theme”of and the interlinkage between the five dimensions of the Energy Union. The principle goes beyond the mere adoption of energy efficiency solutions in energy systems and becomes a modus operandi in decision making in planning, policy and investment in the energy sector. As explicitly stated in Article 2(18) and further explained in recital 64 Governance regulation, EE1st is “a key consideration in future investment decisions on energy infrastructure in the Union” in assessing amongst other the cost-efficiency of projects and alternatives related to energy transmission.
[4] Ekathimerini (4 May 2020) ‘French-Italian energy consortium postpones drilling in Cyprus EEZ due to Covid-19’. https://www.ekathimerini.com/252292/article/ekathimerini/business/french-italian-energy-consortium-postpones-drilling-in-cyprus-eez-due-to-covid-19
[5] Reuters (12 Feb 2018) ‘EU tells Turkey to avoid damaging actions after Cyprus ship incident’. ttps://www.reuters.com/article/us-cyprus-natgas-turkey-eu/eu-tells-turkey-to-avoid-damaging-actions-after-cyprus-ship-incident-idUSKBN1FW19O