>> hello, you are watching al jazeera and these are the top stories. at least 15 people have been killed in an earthquake in pakistan. it was originally registers at a 5.4 magnitude but later turned into a 5.7. 100 km east of qatar. the world health organization has endorsed the first ever vaccine to prevent malaria. it has been tested in three african countries and is being recommended for children.

larry is the main cause of illness and death in children in sub-saharan africa -- malaria is the main cause of illness and death in children in sub-saharan africa. >> as many of you know, i started my career as a researcher and i knew one day we would have an effective vaccine against this ancient and terrible disease. today is that day. a historic day. today, the broad use of the world's first malaria vaccine. >> the leaders of the u.s. and china will hold talks before the end of the year. biden and president xi jinping agreed to a virtual meeting. the secretary general has demanded evidence from ethiopia after explosion of -- to deliver

humanitarian aid to millions of people. the prime minister of peru has quit two months into his new administration. the leftist politician has become a contentious figure. he had talked openly about nationalizing gas resources and was threatening to negotiate agreements with indigenous communities. those are the headlines. the news continues after inside story, next. ♪ >> energy prices have hit record

highs in europe and many are struggling to pay their power bills. what is causing the power crunch? this is inside story. ♪ hello and welcome to the product -- the program. europe is facing an energy crisis before winter. supplies are running low and prices are high. around the world, demand for natural gas and oil are up after places reopen after lockdowns. europe has three quarters of their gas in storage, lower than normal. power bills are already going up. italians are expecting a to 40% increase in the next few months.

demanding coordinated action to coordinate supplies and the european president says the block needs to show they have reduced our reliance on natural fuels and invest in green energy. >> this is a serious issue. gas prices are skyrocketing but prices for renewals have decreased and -- renewables have decreased and are now stable. long-term, it is important to invest in renewables that gives us stable prices and independence. 90% of the gas is imported to the european union. >> europe relies on russia. vladimir putin says the eu has brought a hysterical push for renewables. >> the transition should happen

smoothly and our country has the possibility to avoid those mistakes. we have seen what unbalanced actions and movements can bring us. we can clearly see it in the european energy markets. >> let's bring in our guest. in the switzerland, and economist. in balloon -- in berlin, a professor. and in brussels, a greenpeace and energy campaigner. let's start in berlin. many are saying the energy crisis is a perfect storm of a number of factors. what do you think is behind the crisis, and how bad is it? >> it is a perfect storm of a number of factors. what is behind it, when you look at gas, storage is the lowest it

has been in more than a decade because we had a very cold winter last year and then there are shenanigans between europe and russia on gas, so politics. and we also have climate change to deal with. and everybody, we want to achieve the highest climate change goals but to get from here to there, we need investment in transitional fuels like gas. so people are not investing on the weather is getting cold so we are in a perfect storm of prices skyrocketing. and the economy is also recovering from covid. >> in brussels, what is your take? surely, experts should have seen this coming. >> many have said this crisis is

linked to the energy transition, but it is quite the opposite. if anything, it is because the transition has not come fast enough and the crisis is linked to our overreliance on gas. so the problem is that we have a lot of renewable energy online, but gas is the highest figure on the market, which is dictating prices and it is making people feel the energy crisis personally. >> let's stay with renewables and bring in andres. green transition is in the early stages. is there an argument that the process is not fast enough and we need to speed up infrastructure and supply? >> you cannot go fast enough in

order to fight the climate crisis. you have to go full speed and do everything you can. but i would still say the european union, the european greendale and -- green deal and policies towards decarbonization, think about it. after 2030, we are essentially out of fossil fuels. we might keep gas for little bit, but not for long. and coal will be phased next decade so it is not going fast enough, but it is certainly picking up speed. marco: -- >> is the current crisis going to derail the transition to green energy? and is the timeframe for the transition unrealistic? >> some would say it is

unrealistic and others would say it is going to slowly. there is the energy transition and climate crisis, which we all agree, but there is also a social crisis. we need to make sure that in that transition there will be enough energy delivered from relatively clean sources of fossil fuels until we have all of the infrastructure invested for renewables. so we need to still make sure that the lights don't go out because what is happening now is there is a climate crisis but at this time we might face a very urgent social crisis where those with low incomes might have to decide between heat and food. and that is unacceptable. host: we will get to that later in the program. how much does this energy crisis in europe bring the eu policy

into focus, and what does it mean overall? guest: what we know for sure is the eu is going in the right direction and this is obviously very good, but at the same time, the policy being put in place under the big umbrella of the green deal is not fast or sufficient enough. it does not match the urgency or what science -- scientists are telling us what we should be doing. there has been consensus around the causes of the changing planet and the policies we should be adopting for decades. the problem is that for the moment, isn't enough. what is really important is that we are not too late. host: we are told that natural

gas and coal supply more than 30% in the eu. what role does coldplay as a transitional -- does natural gas and coal play as a transitional fuel? >> as far as i am concerned, it is a bridge fuel, but not a long one. we will need gas for the next decade or so and we cannot phase it out immediately for a number of reasons. including contractual reasons. europe is still tied into long-term contracts and you can't just leave, otherwise it would be pretty costly. but natural gas will also pretty much give way to renewables as of 2030, and that is maybe not tomorrow, but it is in less than a decade. and then it will be pretty quick.

we will blend in renewable fuels in the shape of renewable gases, green hydrogen, these kinds of things that will sooner or later also bleed into the carbon sector like aluminum and steel. those types of industries. gas will be needed for the next decade, but not much longer. host: andres, you seem optimistic about this transition. do we need to face the harsh reality that coal, dirty energy, will be with us for some time in order to fill the energy gap? guest: i think we do. and the thing is to make sure there is as little cool as possible and to most clean fuel

as -- little coal as possible and the most clean fuel as possible. there is investment required. in the meantime we need to make sure we transition so that the lights don't go out on the socially vulnerable do not suffer. host: andres, let me touch on this issue of how you think russia views the energy crisis. we saw a quote earlier about -- from vladimir putin. the fact is europe depends on moscow for most gas. is russia using the crisis for geopolitical leverage? guest: you are touching on a very important topic. russians have not done anything wrong. they supplied the contract they are supposed to supply.

but they have not done much more. what they typically do over the summer is restock through ukraine and other countries, and they have not done this which means we are now at 76% of storage being filled up, compared to 90% on average of what typically happens every year. which means now russians are using this to make the case for supply security being insured by way of bringing their new pipeline, which has been completed, but it is not operational yet. so russia is now essentially suggesting that in order to avoid a supply crunch this winter, you better make sure

your regulatory authority has made sure this becomes operational. it is certainly about geopolitics, not necessarily about market behavior. host: an interesting quote from putin blaming the crisis on what he calls the eu his stereo -- eu hysteria about the transition. clearly he does not want to see this transition as he makes more money with natural gas. guest: as i said earlier, it has nothing to do with the transition to renewables. if anything, the problem is the opposite because we do not have, we are not transitioning fast enough and it is the overreliance of gas that has created the situation and the more money we pour into fossil fuels, the more likely we are to face this kind of crisis in the future. it has really moved investments

in a different direction and this is where i differ a little bit about what was said earlier. it is important that we send a very strong signal that all subsidies need to be phased out very fast because as we know, resources are not infinite to be divided forever. it is really important for the market to see where money needs to be put into. fossil fuels should be phased out and money should be put in renewables, batteries, interconnections, some wind and so forth. that is of primary importance now. host: cornelia, a response about the russian aspect. russia is suspected of slowing down their gas supply, although they say that is not the case.

guest: they are playing politics with each other. the relationship between europe and russia is not happy. the relationship between russia and the western world is not happy. so certainly there is an element of russia playing politics, but there is also the element of a lot of money having been invested on both sides. really coming back to the renewables, we all invest in renewables and if you look at the strong esg guidelines, it is wise for banks to invest in upstream oil and gas, so the money is flowing in the right direction, and it should, but we just need to make sure we get over the hump and we also need to get less western europe centric because in africa and

other places where people need mobility, they might not have the money to invest in the electric vehicle infrastructure so we need to make sure we keep the weaker still powered while we move at a fast speed toward energy transition. host: talking about emissions, what impact do you think the energy crisis will have on eu emission commitments? if coal and gas are plugging the gap and renewables are not fast enough, how is this likely to play out? >> the current crunch we are talking about isn't great. it's difficult and it will affect the most vulnerable people in europe and elsewhere. but it is temporary. it will go away after a couple

months when the markets change again and we have a softer market. so we probably do not have a lasting impact on gas markets more generally. it is hard to predict the future, but what we have seen from the pandemic is that even a major economic crisis does not do away with the structural realities of the energy markets, which are hardwired into long-term energy investment. so you have to put structural breaks in the system and even a major crisis did not do that. because what we have seen is that the emissions in 2020 dipped considerably but they picked up before that price lead

to where they had been before and now they are picking up again to previous levels. so we have not learned the lesson. we have not gone where we should have, which is learn the lessons from 2008 and 2009 when there was a huge dip in greenhouse emissions but then it went back to normal. we should have put the money where climate policies are. some countries did but others did not. the u.s. did not and china did not. so i am almost pessimistic for this small crisis we are seeing here to have a lasting effect and put structural breaks in the system. host: what does this mean for eu climate commitments? does the crisis put more pressure on europe's emissions? guest: i think europe is very clear under the current guidance

that the green deal is really important and they want to become the first net zero continent in the world. so i think the reality is how do we get from here to there? yes, they are pouring investment and your other guest is right that we are hardwired in a certain way, but once investors have put a lot of money into something, it is hard to go against that reality, especially if you want then to invest in something else, because they want some certainty of their investment. but if i look at the investment criteria of the big asset managers, they are really

driving towards net zero. so if anything, the oil and gas companies are seeing a very tough time getting money and. host: we looked at europe, let's look at the rest of the world. the crisis for natural gas is reaching new levels. what does this mean for developing countries who are struggling to restart their economies post-covid? guest: i think there are some points we have already touched on that are important. the people who are most vulnerable in europe and elsewhere and thinking about the energy crisis and price crisis now, it is absolutely important that governor -- that the government places plans for those who are most at risk of poverty.

i think this is also even more crucial outside europe, the point of where we are signaling investment is worth making and the point around fossil fuel subsidies that need to be phased out because it continues to send the wrong signal. if you keep pouring money into the same fossil gas infrastructure, especially in the face of climate crisis, we will end up with stranded assets . as europeans, i think this is a perfect opportunity for us to make sure we provide support. host: we are already seeing rolling blackouts in china and energy companies are going bust in the u.k.

is this a warning for the rest of the world? guest: yes, and i would especially look at the developing world because we need to make sure we help them, we need to make sure we help the developing world with the help of the paris agreement funding mechanisms to help them invest in the right things. we also need to make sure we get over the hump and the lights don't go out while we are doing all the right things. so we might need to live for a little while longer with the cleanest of the fossil fuels to make sure people still have mobility and what they need. host: andres, many vulnerable people have already been hit by the economic impact globally of coronavirus and now they face

spiraling energy bills. what does this mean for everyday people and what should the government's duty to help them -- the governments do to help them? >> in the end, rebates, tax deductions, checks being sent out to people in vulnerable households. probably some priorities need to be made to target some industries that are important to keep running, and people on the other hand to make sure the social impact of the crisis does not adversely affect the most vulnerable. i think the other thing we need to make sure is that we start saving energy. the one thing we cannot do now

is take from the supplies. nor can we just leave policies. you have to take conservation measures. and pray that we have a mild winter. host: winter is fast approaching in the northern hemisphere. how do the governments of 4 -- how do the government help the most vulnerable? >> they need to subsidize. we may need to give transfer payments. we cannot ask people to choose between food and heat.

it isn't right. but we also need to look further and conserves energy -- conserve energy and look at other technologies, green hydrogen and all of those things. host: we have to leave it there. thank you so much to our guests. and thank you for watching. you can see the program again any time by visiting al jazeera.com. and for discussion, go to our facebook page. and you can join the conversation on where. from me -- conversation on twitter. from me and the team, goodbye for now.

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