The conflict in Ukraine shouldn’t be used to increase dependency on oil and gas, Antonio Guterres says
The climate crisis is humanity’s biggest emergency now, and governments across the globe must “end the age of fossil fuels”UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that they would work together to find a solution.
Continue sticking with oil, gas, and coal “doesn’t make political or economic sense. Yet we seem trapped in a world where fossil fuel producers and financiers have humanity by the throat,”Guterres addressed the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate Change on Friday.
He likened the recent behavior of the fossil fuel sector to the behavior in the 1920s. “scandalous tactics”The mid-20th-century era saw the rise of several tobacco companies.
They are energy producers “invested heavily in pseudo-science and public relations – with a false narrative to minimize their responsibility for climate change and undermine ambitious climate policies,”But the UN chief was insistent.
“Like tobacco interests, fossil fuel interests and their financial accomplices must not escape responsibility,”He added.
Coal, oil and gas all will soon cease to exist. “wind, sun and tides never run out,”Guterres made the point.
If the world had started investing in renewable energy earlier, it would’ve likely avoided many of the negative economic effects caused by the rise in the prices of fossil fuels due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, he argued.
“So, let’s make sure the war in Ukraine is not used to increase that dependency [on fossil fuels]. Today’s most pressing domestic problems – like inflation and gas prices – are themselves climate and fossil fuel problems,”The UN chief demanded.
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