United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has issued a stark warning that too many governments and businesses “have still not got the message” and risk engineering a carbon intensive recovery from the coronavirus crisis.
Speaking at the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) virtual Clean Energy Transition Summit, Mr Guterres warned that the opportunity to deliver a “green recovery” that accelerates climate action in support of the United Nations sponsored Paris Agreement was at risk of being squandered by countries that use stimulus funds to “prop up” fossil fuel firms and “jumpstart” coal-fired power plant development.
Reuters Newsagency reports Mr Guterres urged countries to stop financing coal and commit not to build new coal-fired power plants to enable a shift to clean energy.
“Coal has no place in COVID-19 recovery plans,” Mr Guterres said, speaking via videolink to the clean energy transition summit hosted by the IEA.
He said the business case for renewable energy was better than coal in nearly every market and that green jobs and sustainable growth are both crucial in economic recovery packages amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“Today, nations are taking far-reaching decisions as they channel trillions of dollars of taxpayers’ money into recovery strategies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.
“As we design and implement these recovery plans, we have a choice. We can go back to where we were, or we can invest in a better, more sustainable future.
Mr Guterres praised those governments that have committed to green recovery plans, singling out the European Union and South Korea for praise and highlighting how Nigeria has reformed its fossil fuel subsidy framework and Canada has placed climate disclosure conditions on its bail-out support in response to the pandemic.
However, he warned that “many have still not got the message”.
Mr Guterres cited new research on G20 recovery packages released this week that shows that twice as much recovery money has been spent on fossil fuels as clean energy.
Reuters reports China, the world’s biggest coal producer, said it was committed to a clean and efficient low-carbon development of the energy sector.
“We are going to make great efforts to develop hydro, wind and solar,” Zhang Jinhua, director of China’s National Energy Administration, told the virtual meeting.
The IEA’s Clean Energy Transition Summit convened 40 ministers from countries representing 80 per cent of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
They discussed measures to boost economies, reduce emissions and make energy systems more resilient to climate change.
“The IEA Clean Energy Transitions Summit represents the key moment in 2020 to build momentum towards international energy and climate goals,” said Dr Fatih Birol, executive director at the IEA.
“Rather than letting the COVID-19 crisis undermine our clean energy transitions, we need to take advantage of the massive economic recovery plans to achieve a definitive peak in carbon emissions and put the world on path to sustainable recovery.”
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One Response
While Australia with its bozo coal corrupt governments is increasing coal mining. The worlds free coal mine.