The UN Secretary- General, António Guterres’ is urging banks to shift from financing fossil fuel infrastructure project and instead finance low-carbon climate–resilient projects in support of climate change agenda.
The UN Chief is reported to have made the call during the 2021 Petersberg Climate Dialogue last Thursday.
Mr. Guterres’, who praised the major economies that have committed to net-zero emission targets, stressed that under current commitments, the world is still headed to “a disastrous temperature rise of 2.4 degrees by the end of the century.
“We can no longer afford big fossil fuel infrastructure anywhere. Such investments simply deepen our predicament. They are not even cost-effective,” Mr Guterres’ said.
Fossil fuels have already become more expensive than renewable energy projects, the UN Secretary-General explained.
“So we need the shareholders of multilateral development banks and development financial institutions to work with the management of these banks on funding a low-carbon, climate-resilient development that is aligned with the 1.5-degree goal,” he noted.
He also called for putting a price on carbon.
“We stand, indeed, at the edge of the abyss. But if we work together, we can avert the worst impacts of climate disruption and use the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic to steer us on a cleaner, greener path,” Mr. Guterres’ said.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com