Putin’s climate calculations weigh heavy on Ukraine invasion plans

By Trey Thoelcke Published Feb 8, 11:51AM EST

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

Putin’s climate calculations weigh heavy on Ukraine invasion plans — © Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images

By David Callaway, Callaway Climate Insights

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s meeting with China’s Xi Jinping last week at the start of the winter Olympics was more than just a political snub to Western leaders, who largely boycotted the games to protest human rights abuses. It came tied up with an important natural gas deal.

Putin agreed to boost Russian shipments of gas to China through its Siberian pipeline by about 60% in the next few years, effectively removing a potential economic weapon the U.S. might need against China should it attack Taiwan. The fact that natural gas is taking center stage in both of the potential biggest invasion scenarios since World War II is a clear sign of the way climate change and the fossil fuel transition are becoming intertwined with geo-political policy.

But perhaps more important, it is dictating, and limiting, in many ways, Putin’s available strategic options. The world is a lot different than the last time Putin used Russia’s natural gas supplies to push Europe around, in 2006, when he was also making threats against Ukraine. . . .

To read this column, all our insights, news and in-depth interviews, please subscribe and support our great climate finance journalism.

Callaway Climate Insights Newsletter

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.