In the aftermath of the Iran war, Europe's gas reserves are at their lowest... Winter heating costs soar

The British BBC reported on the 10th (local time) that in the aftermath of the Iran war, Europe's gas reserves for winter fell to the lowest level since related statistics were compiled in 2011, increasing pressure to increase heating costs in Europe, including the UK.

The cap on household energy bills in the UK, enforced by Ofgem, the UK energy regulator, will be 2,150 pounds (approximately 3.84 million won) per year in January next year. The energy industry predicts that it will rise by more than 25% compared to the previous quarter.

This is the average of the forecasts made by major energy suppliers British Gas, EDF, and E.ON.

The BBC explained that this amounts to an additional burden of about 460 pounds (about 820,000 won) per household per year.

While gas reserves in Europe, including the UK, have fallen to an all-time low, supply and demand concerns are growing ahead of winter, which has had the effect of pushing up gas prices in Europe.

Current gas prices are significantly lower than in 2022, immediately after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. However, the BBC pointed out that in the aftermath of the rise in energy prices caused by the war in Iran, wars that have broken out in distant places again after four years are putting pressure on British households' pocketbook.

The British energy think tank Energy and Climate Information Unit (ECIU) and E3G estimate that the additional costs incurred by British households due to the surge in energy prices at the beginning of the Ukraine War amounted to a total of 63 billion pounds (about 112 trillion won), or about 2,200 pounds (about 3.92 million won) per household.

The BBC introduced that the need to reduce emissions to respond to climate warming is a factor that makes it more difficult to respond to rising energy prices.

According to the United Nations, even if all countries' emissions reduction pledges are combined, the global emissions reduction in 2035 will be only 6% compared to 2030, which is only one-tenth of the level needed to limit the global temperature rise to below 1.5 degrees.

The United States, which withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, is producing oil and gas on a record-high scale and is pressuring its allies to purchase, while China is betting on replacing fossil fuels by producing solar panels, batteries, and electric vehicles.

In this situation, the Conference of the Parties (COP31) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP31) opened in Turkye on the 9th, and fossil fuel reduction is the main agenda.

Energy and climate policy have become the forefront of the confrontation between the world's two largest energy powers, the United States and China, and the rest of the world is being pressured into the gap, the BBC diagnosed.