{"id":2220,"date":"2021-01-17T15:43:40","date_gmt":"2021-01-17T15:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/?p=2220"},"modified":"2021-01-18T15:49:21","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T15:49:21","slug":"un-chief-calls-for-urgent-transition-from-fossil-fuels-to-renewable-energy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/novedades\/un-chief-calls-for-urgent-transition-from-fossil-fuels-to-renewable-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"UN chief calls for \u2018urgent transition\u2019 from fossil fuels to renewable energy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>January 17, 2021<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll countries need credible mid-term goals and plans that are aligned with this objective\u201d,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/a>\u00a0said, addressing the virtual\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ukcop26.org\/\">COP26\u00a0<\/a>Roundtable on Clean Power Transition. \u201cTo achieve net zero emissions by 2050, we need an urgent transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy\u201d.<\/p>\n<h3>Energy for Africa<\/h3>\n<p>Painting a picture of some 789 million people across the developing world without access to electricity \u2013 three-quarters of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa \u2013 the top UN official called it \u201cboth an injustice and an impediment to sustainable development\u201d.<\/p>\n<div class=\"dnd-widget-wrapper context-un_news_default type-twitter atom-align-right\">\n<div class=\"dnd-atom-rendered\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"Twitter Tweet\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/index.html?creatorScreenName=UN_News_Centre&amp;dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1348687802431647750&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.un.org%2Fen%2Fstory%2F2021%2F01%2F1081802&amp;siteScreenName=UN_News_Centre&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1348687802431647750\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>He signaled \u201cinclusivity and sustainability\u201d as key to support African countries, while underscoring that all nations need to be able to provide access to clean and renewable energy that prevents \u201cthe dangerous heating of our planet\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Guterres asked for a \u201cstrong commitment from all governments\u201d to end fossil fuel subsidies, put a price on carbon, shift taxation from people to pollution, and end the construction of coal-fired power plants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd we need to see adequate international support so African economies and other developing countries\u2019 economies can leapfrog polluting development and transition to a clean, sustainable energy pathway\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n<h3>Adaptation \u2018 a moral imperative\u2019<\/h3>\n<p>Against this backdrop, Mr. Guterres repeated his appeal to developed nations to fulfill their annual pledge for $100 billion dollars to support mitigation and adaptation in developing countries.<\/p>\n<p>Pointing to vulnerabilities faced by Africa \u2013 from prolonged droughts in the Sahel and Horn of Africa to devastating floods in the continent\u2019s south \u2013 he underscored \u201cthe vital importance of adaptation\u201d as \u201ca moral imperative\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The UN chief said that while only 20 per cent of climate finance is earmarked for it, adaptation requires \u201cequal attention and investment\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe forthcoming climate adaptation summit on 25 January is an opportunity to generate momentum in this much neglected area\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n<p>Reversing a dangerous trend<\/p>\n<p>Despite huge amounts of money that have been reserved for\u00a0<a class=\"word-link\" title=\"Coronavirus disease (COVID-19)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">COVID-19<\/a>\u00a0recovery and stimulus measures, the Secretary-General noted that \u201csustainable investments are still not being prioritized\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He outlined the need for an annual six per cent decrease in energy production from fossil fuels through renewables, transition programmes, economic diversification plans, green bonds and other instruments to advance sustainability.<\/p>\n<p>He reiterated the need to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, stating emissions needed to fall\u202fby 7.6 per cent\u202fevery year between now and 2030.<\/p>\n<p>However, he noted that \u201csome countries are still going in the opposite direction. \u201cWe need to reverse this trend\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aligning with Paris\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>He said all public and private financing should support the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom.unfccc.int\/unfccc-newsroom\/finale-cop21\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Paris Agreement<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sustainabledevelopment.un.org\/post2015\/transformingourworld\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development<\/a>\u00a0with training, reskilling and providing new opportunities that\u00a0 are \u201cjust and inclusive\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>He noted that a sustainable economy means better infrastructure, a resilient future and millions of new jobs \u2013 especially for women and young people, maintaining that \u201cwe have the opportunity to transform our world\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut to achieve this we need global solidarity, just as we need it for a successful recovery from COVID-19\u201d, the Secretary-General said, reminding everyone that \u201cin a global crisis we protect ourselves best when we protect all\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have the tools. Let us unlock them with political will\u201d, concluded the UN chief.<\/p>\n<div class=\"dnd-widget-wrapper context-un_news_full_width type-video\">\n<div class=\"dnd-atom-rendered\">\n<div class=\"bc_container embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All countries need credible mid-term goals and plans that are aligned with this objective<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[90,43,66,22,44,26,29,89,19,17,7],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2220"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2220"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2220\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2222,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2220\/revisions\/2222"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.genesisarg.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}