Every fifth tonne of imported peat products in the world comes from Latvia, yet at home, it is forbidden to burn energy peat even in the event of potential aggression or an energy catastrophe.
Latvia's share of global peat product exports by volume was 19.9% in 2022, but from 2030, even putting peat briquettes into a stove will be prohibited in Latvia, as absorbing EU funding is considered more valuable than survival in the vicinity of an aggressor state.
Latvia is a very strange land, governed by very strange governments that occasionally take completely destructive decisions. As is well known, Russia launched an aggressive war against Ukraine on 24 February 2022. The consequences of this aggression included a move by Latvia and other democratic countries to stop financially supporting the aggressor state, including by renouncing its energy supplies. This meant that Latvia had to gradually phase out Russian natural gas and replace it in the energy balance with something else – that was the first priority. Secondly, Latvia shares a border, and will continue to do so in the future, with a dangerous aggressor state, and Latvia may be affected by its various activities, including those impacting Latvia's security, energy supply and transport flows.