## Editor's Letter — "Securing the Path to Green"

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Editor's Letter — "Securing the Path to Green"](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2022/december/editor-letter-1222.pdf)

## Other formats

- [Markdown version](/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2022/december/editor-letter-1222.pdf.md)
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### Context and framing
- Publication: FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT, December 2022.
- Issue theme: The interaction between near-term energy security pressures and long-term climate/green-transition goals amid supply threats and price increases since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
- Editorial stance: Energy security and climate action are not mutually exclusive; the current crisis strengthens the case for accelerating clean-energy investment.

### Key arguments and analysis
- The scramble for quick solutions to secure affordable and reliable energy risks imperiling climate action if it deepens dependence on fossil fuels.
- International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol: It is a fallacy that the world must choose between energy security and climate action; the current situation strengthens the case for more investment in clean energy to reduce dependence on imported oil and gas.
- Daniel Yergin: The energy transition needs careful planning and risks losing public support if it causes economic disruption, especially in developing economies. “Advocacy has too often taken precedence over analysis,” he writes.
- Andrea Pescatori and Martin Stuermer (IMF): There are structural differences between oil and gas markets relevant to Europe’s immediate energy supply challenge.
- Jeromin Zettelmeyer (Bruegel): EU countries should strike a “grand bargain” to work together to reduce energy demand, boost supply, keep internal energy markets open, and compensate vulnerable consumers.
- Ricardo Hausmann (Harvard): For emerging market and developing economies, the clean energy transition is an opportunity to supercharge growth; investing in green technologies creates value and jobs and enables greater contribution to global decarbonization.
- Long-term security depends on a mix of clean energy technologies, including solar, wind, nuclear, “green” hydrogen, electric vehicles, and carbon capture.
- Fatih Birol’s central claim reiterated: Massive investment in clean energy is the best guarantee of energy security; energy security and climate action must go hand in hand.

### Policy implications and recommendations (implicit and explicit)
- Avoid using the energy crisis as justification to deepen reliance on fossil fuels.
- Increase investment in clean energy to:
  - Reduce dependence on imported oil and gas.
  - Strengthen long-term energy security.
- Design the energy transition with careful planning to:
  - Minimize economic disruption, particularly in developing economies.
  - Maintain public support by aligning advocacy with rigorous analysis.
- For EU policymakers: Consider coordinated measures to:
  - Reduce energy demand.
  - Boost energy supply.
  - Keep internal energy markets open.
  - Compensate vulnerable consumers.
- For emerging market and developing economies: Leverage the transition to:
  - Create jobs and value through green-technology investment.
  - Use growth opportunities to contribute to global decarbonization.

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2022/december/editor-letter-1222.pdf_