The joint delegation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Climate participated in the Summit on the Future of Energy Security in London on April 23–24. The event was organized by the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the government of the United Kingdom, led by Executive Director of the IEA Fatih Birol and Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change of the United Kingdom Ed Miliband. The Estonian delegation was led by the Undersecretary for Global Affairs Minna-Liina Lind, who delivered a speech at the ministerial session.
The summit focused on geopolitical, technological, and economic factors affecting energy security and explored various solutions for mitigating energy-related risks. The main topics of the discussions included fuel consumption and trade, the increasing role of electricity, the development of renewable energy technologies, and the availability of critical minerals and metals. Participants of the summit were welcomed by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
“Energy security and the protection of critical infrastructure are of strategic importance to us,” said Undersecretary Lind. “We must accelerate efforts to fully transition away from Russian energy systems, the revenues from which feed the Russian war machine.” She emphasized that Estonia stopped purchasing Russian gas immediately after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. She also highlighted the recent synchronization of the electricity grids of the three Baltic states, which completely ended Estonia’s dependency on Russian energy systems.
Undersecretary Lind also called on like-minded countries to strengthen cooperation in the fields of cybersecurity and the security of underwater infrastructure to protect critical infrastructure and encouraged involving representatives of the private sector in future discussions to find innovative solutions. “We must utilize all available resources to ensure the long-lasting stability and resilience of energy systems,” Lind said.
Additionally, bilateral meetings were held with Laura Lochman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at the Bureau of Energy Resources of the United States; Tommy Joyce, Acting Assistant Secretary for the Office of International Affairs of the United States; and Freya Jackson, Director for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights at the UK Foreign Office.
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