The Precautionary Principle,
Net-zero Transition and Model Liberalism after the War in Ukraine
Academician of the National Academy of Law Sciences of Ukraine,
Doctor of Law, Professor, Honoured Lawyer of Ukraine
LL.M., MBA, Ph.D.
Authoritarian states together with several minor international players are an obvious threat to the environment, as well as to human, animal, and plant health. The survival of authoritarian states depends heavily on their trade with democratic ones. Ending or preventing a war takes priority over long-term concerns such as climate change. One of the key documented conclusions about the behavior of liberal democracies is that they very rarely go to war with each other. Authoritarian states have little respect for advanced theoretical economics and equally low regard for long-term climate models. Therefore, the elimination of fossil fuels from the energy mix would have to wait till all the major authoritarian states across the planet exist no more or have been brought under control by superior fossil-free weapons. “The end of history” and the imminent transition to net-zero and green energy would have to wait till the whole world would be democratic, as Fukujama once famously foresaw. Net energy transition and free trade with authoritarian states would have to be seriously reconsidered after the war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The precautionary principle and common sense dictate that the net-zero transition and climate neutrality would have to wait till aggressive authoritarian states are neutralized.
