European leaders commit to more wind energy production

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte said the group of Western countries must make sure Russian president Vladimir Putin 'no longer has the means to exert pressure on us by turning off the gas tap'

From left: Netherland’s prime minister Mark Rutte; Taoiseach Leo Varadkar; French president Emmanuel Macron; Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen; Belgium’s prime minister Alexander De Croo; European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen; Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz; Luxembourg’s prime minister Xavier Bettel; and Norway’s prime minister Jonas Gahr Store pose for photographers at the end of a media conference at the North Sea Summit in Ostend, Belgium. Picture: Virginia Mayo/AP

A group of Western European nations led by Germany and France have committed to massively ramping up the production of clean energy from wind turbines in the North Sea, to both meet climate targets and reduce their strategic energy dependence on Russia.

Their leaders also vowed to improve security around the growing underwater electricity grid so it cannot fall victim to hybrid threats.