UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged countries to stop funding coal (File)
London:
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday urged countries to stop funding coal and pledge not to build new coal-fired power plants to transition to clean energy.
He spoke at a virtual summit on the transition to clean energy bringing together 40 countries representing 80% of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. They discussed measures to boost economies, reduce emissions and make energy systems more resistant to climate change.
As countries seek to revive their economies from the slowdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic, governments and investors have called for stimulus packages to focus in part on green incentives.
The European Union and South Korea have already promised environmentally friendly stimulus packages. But Guterres said some countries have used them to also support fossil fuel companies that are already struggling financially, and others have chosen to restart coal-fired power plants.
“Coal has no place in the recovery plans for COVID-19,” said António Guterres in a speech by video conference at the summit, organized by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
He said that the business case for renewable energy is better than that of coal in almost all markets and that green jobs and sustainable growth are both crucial.
China, the world‘s second largest economy and largest producer of coal, said it was committed to clean and efficient low-carbon development of the energy sector.
“We are going to make great efforts to develop hydro, wind and solar,” said Zhang Jinhua, director of the National Energy Administration of China, during the virtual meeting.
Although coal use has declined in some regions such as Europe and the United States, and many investors have withdrawn from coal financing, it has increased in other parts of the world as emerging economies claim that the use of coal is necessary for growth.
A recent study found that China has nearly 250 gigawatts (GW) of coal-fired power under development, more than the total coal-fired power capacity of the United States.
Governments have agreed to limit global warming to safer levels to avoid the catastrophic effects of climate change and to achieve a goal of zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“Global demand for energy has declined significantly this year, as have emissions (due to coronavirus blockages). But we do not know whether this decline will rebound or not. Ministers will decide what policies they will have in place, “said the director of the IEA. Director Fatih Birol.
The IEA, which advises western governments on energy policy, said last week that a huge acceleration of innovation in clean energy is needed to reach a global goal of zero net carbon emissions by 2050. It has also produced a roadmap for governments to reduce carbon emissions.
(Report by Nina Chestney and Matthew Green; Edited by Edmund Blair and Mark Heinrich)
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
