The key policy priority for governments around the world during the 2020-2021 period was the response to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, this was swiftly replaced by an even graver urgent need to respond to Russia's full-scale attack on Ukraine in February 2022. This special issue aims to study the post-pandemic response and how related policy choices influence decarbonisation and energy transition efforts in the EU. While the special issue was initially conceived before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the question of policy responses to critical situations remains even more relevant in the face of Russia's attempt to redraft the political landscape of Europe by force. The dichotomy of existing views on whether the crisis caused by the pandemic is an opportunity or a threat to the energy transition is also present in the discussion and perception of the EU's energy and climate policy after the Russian invasion at least temporarily shifted energy security and decarbonisation priorities. Analysing energy and climate dimensions of the EU's post-pandemic recovery can provide policy implications applicable to the energy security crisis connected to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.