Last year, USD$2 trillion went into clean energy – that is $800 billion more than fossil fuels, and up almost 70 percent in ten years.
United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres stated this from New York saying the new data released from the International Renewable Energy Agency shows that solar – not so long ago was four times the cost of fossil fuels and now is 41 percent cheaper, offshore wind – 53 percent and over 90 percent of new renewables worldwide produced electricity for less than the cheapest new fossil fuel alternative.
Guterres says this is not just a shift in power, it is a shift in possibility.
He says already, the carbon emissions saved by solar and wind globally are almost equivalent to what the whole European Union produces in a year.
The Secretary General says this transformation is fundamentally about energy security and people’s security, it is about smart economics, decent jobs, public health, advancing the Sustainable Development Goals, and delivering clean and affordable energy to everyone, everywhere.
He says they are releasing a special report with the support of UN agencies and partners - the International Energy Agency, the IMF, IRENA, the OECD and the World Bank.
Guterres says the report shows how far we have come in the decade since the Paris Agreement sparked a clean energy revolution, and it highlights the vast benefits and actions needed to accelerate a just transition globally.
He says renewables already nearly match fossil fuels in global installed power capacity and that is just the beginning as last year, almost all the new power capacity built came from renewables.
The Secretary General says every continent on Earth added more renewables capacity than fossil fuels, and renewables generated almost a third of global electricity meaning the clean energy future is no longer a promise.
He says of course, the fossil fuel lobby will try and they know the lengths to which they will go, but he has never been more confident that they will fail – because we have passed the point of no return.
Guterres says for decades, emissions and economic growth rose together, no more.
He says even Texas – the heart of the American fossil fuel industry – now leads the US in renewables, why, because it makes economic sense, and and yet fossil fuels still enjoy a 9 to 1 advantage in consumption subsidies globally – a clear market distortion.
The Secretary General says add to that the unaccounted costs of climate damages on people and planet – and the distortion is even greater.
He says countries that cling to fossil fuels are not protecting their economies – they are sabotaging them, driving up costs, undermining competitiveness, and locking-in stranded assets.
Guterres says renewables are here to stay because they are the foundation of energy security and sovereignty.
He says looking at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a war in Europe led to a global energy crisis where oil and gas prices soared, electricity and food bills followed.
The Secretary General says there are no price spikes for sunlight, no embargoes on wind.
He adds the 1.5 degree limit is in unprecedented peril and to keep it within reach, we must drastically speed up the reduction of emissions – and the reach of the clean energy transition.
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