Climate Change Madness - Part 1

 

Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General says the rush to use fossil fuels because of the war in Ukraine is "madness" and threatens global climate targets. Guterres makes no bones about the fact that the limited progress achieved in Glasgow is insufficient to ward off dangerous climate change.

 "The problem was not solved in Glasgow," Mr Guterres says, in a speech delivered at the Economist Sustainability Summit. "In fact, the problem is getting worse."

To keep that 1.5C threshold alive, carbon output needs to be cut in half by the end of this decade. Instead, as  Guterres points out, emissions are set to rise by 14%.

The war in Ukraine threatens to make that situation even more problematic, he says. Europe and the UK and other countries are looking to cut their reliance on Russian oil and gas this year. Many are turning to coal or imports of liquefied natural gas as alternative sources. But Guterres warns this short-term approach heralds great danger for the climate. "Countries could become so consumed by the immediate fossil fuel supply gap that they neglect or knee-cap policies to cut fossil fuel use,"  Guterres said. "This is madness. Addiction to fossil fuels is mutually assured destruction."

Countries must "accelerate the phase out of coal and all fossil fuels," and implement a rapid and sustainable energy transition. It is "the only true pathway to energy security."

Guterres says the solutions to the climate crisis mostly lie in the hands of the G20 group of richest nations, which produce around 80% of global emissions. While many of these countries have taken great steps to slash emissions by 2030, there are a "handful of holdouts, such as Australia."

Coal must be banished,  Guterres says, with a full phase-out for richer nations by 2030, and 2040 for all others, including China.

Coal "is a stupid investment," according to the Secretary General, "leading to billions in stranded assets."