DOHA: Qatar has warned that it will cease gas exports to the European Union if the bloc's countries impose penalties under recently adopted legislation on sustainability due diligence, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of QatarEnergy HE Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabitold theFinancial Times.
The EU'sCorporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, which entered into force in July, allows for fines of up to 5 percent of acompany’sannual global revenue if the management fails to address adverse human rights or environmental impacts.
"If I lose 5 percent of my revenue by supplying Europe, Iwon’tsupply Europe,”Al Kaabi told the newspaper in aninterviewpublished on Sunday. "I’mnot bluffing,” he added.
Qatar has become a critical supplier of liquefied natural gas to Europe as countries are reducing theirreliance on Russian energyfollowingMoscow’sinvasion of Ukraine. QatarEnergy, the state-owned energy giant, haslong-term LNG supply agreementswith Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands.
Al Kaabi, who is also thechief executive of QatarEnergy, said the EU legislation would be unworkable for companies like QatarEnergy.
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directivehas drawn criticismboth from within and outside the EU. Countries have to transpose thenew rulesinto national law by 2026 and one year later, in 2027, the rules willstart to apply to companies, with a gradual phase-in between three and five years after entry into force.
The directive is part of thebloc’sbroader strategyto align corporate practices with its goal of achievingnet-zero emissionsby 2050.