Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent rise in oil prices have thrown Europe's energy security into stark relief, particularly now that the European Union agreed to ban 90% of Russian oil imports by the end of the year.

"Europe's big lesson out of this is that they want to be energy independent," U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry said in an interview with Yahoo Finance Editor-in-Chief Andy Serwer at the World Economic Forum (video above). "They're going to move far more rapidly to get off of Russian gas to separate themselves and to deploy the renewable base of their grid so that they can be free from the emissions and from petrol dictators who weaponize energy."

Before the agreement on Tuesday, Europe had been split on the embargo. The bloc reached an agreement by carving out an exemption for a pipeline that serves Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.

"We must become independent from Russian oil, coal and gas," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a March statement. "We simply cannot rely on a supplier who explicitly threatens us. We need to act now to mitigate the impact of rising energy prices, diversify our gas supply for next winter and accelerate the clean energy transition."

Earlier this month, Germany and Italy were given permission from Brussels to circumvent sanctions by accepting energy payments in rubles, a move that helps Russia's heavily-sanctioned economy.

Poland, Bulgaria, and Finland have refused to convert payments to rubles. Gazprom, Russia's state-owned energy corporation, retaliated by cutting off gas supplies to Finland, Bulgaria, and Poland as well as cutting off services to companies in the Netherlands and Denmark. Finland had received nearly all of its gas supply from Russia — however, that supply comprised only about 5% of its energy consumption.

Weaning off Russian gas amid 'the problem of the climate crisis'

Given Europe's plan to wean itself off Russian gas imports, the question remains how it will replace that fuel supply.

EU leadership maintains that renewable energy investment is the "most important pillar" of its energy strategy, though the REPowerEU plan also details how the EU will seek natural gas elsewhere — EU gas deliveries from suppliers outside of Russia doubled in Q1 year over year — and increase its gas storage capacity. Furthermore, the EU expects to extend the use of coal facilities despite carbon neutrality goals.

As of 2020, 35% of Europe's energy comes from petroleum products like oil, 24% comes from natural gas, and 17% comes from renewables. The combination of energy sources Europe chooses going forward has significant consequences for global warming pathways.