{"title":"Pipeline politics: Balancing energy needs and environmental concerns in European Union - Russian Federation relations?","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.erss.2024.103698","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>For decades the European Union has been building its normative identity on the international scene. In line with this goal, one of its core normative priorities became environmentalism and the fight against climate change, visible especially in the policies related to greenhouse gas emissions reductions or shifts away from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources. Hence, within this article, we evaluate this proclaimed self-identification as a global environmental leader through the stances of the Union towards the Nord Stream 2 project. With the help of Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) and a sentiment analysis, we juxtapose the environmentalist claims against the reality of energy-driven interests of the block and a major natural gas pipeline from Russia. Moreover, we contrast the European ideal with the Russian pragmatism about fossil fuel projects and thus highlight the differing approaches to the pipeline over the years 2015–2021. Our analysis therefore adds to the critical discourse on the Normative Power Europe (NPE) concept but also questions the illusive Russian interest in environmentalism evident in our results, which we evaluate as a mere selling tactic for the pipeline.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48384,"journal":{"name":"Energy Research & Social Science","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":6.9000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Energy Research & Social Science","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629624002895","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
For decades the European Union has been building its normative identity on the international scene. In line with this goal, one of its core normative priorities became environmentalism and the fight against climate change, visible especially in the policies related to greenhouse gas emissions reductions or shifts away from fossil fuels to sustainable energy sources. Hence, within this article, we evaluate this proclaimed self-identification as a global environmental leader through the stances of the Union towards the Nord Stream 2 project. With the help of Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) and a sentiment analysis, we juxtapose the environmentalist claims against the reality of energy-driven interests of the block and a major natural gas pipeline from Russia. Moreover, we contrast the European ideal with the Russian pragmatism about fossil fuel projects and thus highlight the differing approaches to the pipeline over the years 2015–2021. Our analysis therefore adds to the critical discourse on the Normative Power Europe (NPE) concept but also questions the illusive Russian interest in environmentalism evident in our results, which we evaluate as a mere selling tactic for the pipeline.
期刊介绍:
Energy Research & Social Science (ERSS) is a peer-reviewed international journal that publishes original research and review articles examining the relationship between energy systems and society. ERSS covers a range of topics revolving around the intersection of energy technologies, fuels, and resources on one side and social processes and influences - including communities of energy users, people affected by energy production, social institutions, customs, traditions, behaviors, and policies - on the other. Put another way, ERSS investigates the social system surrounding energy technology and hardware. ERSS is relevant for energy practitioners, researchers interested in the social aspects of energy production or use, and policymakers.
Energy Research & Social Science (ERSS) provides an interdisciplinary forum to discuss how social and technical issues related to energy production and consumption interact. Energy production, distribution, and consumption all have both technical and human components, and the latter involves the human causes and consequences of energy-related activities and processes as well as social structures that shape how people interact with energy systems. Energy analysis, therefore, needs to look beyond the dimensions of technology and economics to include these social and human elements.