UN calls for energy sector overhaul to avoid climate catastrophe
The United Nations has found that only a swift system-wide transformation of the energy sector can stave off the most devastating effects of climate change, as projections show current pledges offer “no credible pathway” to limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). According to UNEP, avoiding building new fossil fuel infrastructure that locks in fossil fuel dependency and greenhouse gas emissions for decades is necessary, “in particular for coal and gas”. “All governments need to plan for fossil fuel phase-out well ahead and in a socially just manner,” the report said, which includes removing fossil fuel subsidies as well as bureaucratic hurdles to grid access for renewable energy. As IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2022 offered a glimmer of hope, a new report from UN Climate Change this week stressed the urgent need for the 193 countries that subscribed to the Paris Agreement to revise their climate pledges. “Government decisions and actions must reflect the level of urgency, the gravity of the threats we are facing, and the shortness of the time we have remaining to avoid the devastating consequences of runaway climate change,” Simon Stiell, executive secretary of UN Climate Change, said on Wednesday.
3 months ago
Al Jazeera
