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AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec
Guterres calls for coal-free COVID-19 recovery plans
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ call for an end to coal support contrasts with G20 states’ continued support for fossil fuels, writes Richard Lockhart
GLOBAL
WHAT:
Antonio Guterres has called for governments to drop coal and to invest in renewables
WHY:
He said that the business case for renewable energy was now better than coal in virtually every market
WHAT NEXT:
There is considerable policy support for renewables, but traditional help for fossil fuels is entrenched, and could threaten the Paris Agreement goals
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for governments to drop coal and to invest in renewables in a bid to kick-start the global economy after the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
He stressed that the business case for renew- able energy was now better than coal in virtually every market.
Speaking to 40 ministers at the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Clean Energy Transitions Summit, he warned that some governments had still not got the message, even though some were making excellent progress.
He now urged all governments to support the energy transition, saying that such spend- ing would bring health, scienti c and economic bene ts.
Cross Head
“It is vital that we bring sharper focus on the need to transition away from fossil fuels and toward a clean energy future - a future that protects peo- ple and planet and promotes prosperity,” he told ministers, which included representatives from the US, China, the EU and Japan.
He contrasted renewables, which are “relia- ble, clean and economically smart,” with fossil fuels, “whose markets are volatile and whose emissions lead to lethal air pollution.”
He praised the plans already put forward by
some countries, highlighting that South Korea and the EU had committed green recovery plans. Canada has placed climate disclosure condi- tions on its bail-out support, he stressed, while Nigeria has reformed its fossil fuel subsidy
framework.
Meanwhile, investors and other economic
stakeholders are calling for the recovery to be aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement, he said.
Fossil fuel preference
Yet despite these examples of best practice, “twice as much recovery money, which is taxpay- ers’ money, has been spent on fossil fuels than on clean energy,” he said.
Guterres was referring to a report from Energy Policy Tracker, a think-tank, that found that G20 countries, which account for 80% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, had committed $151bn of public money since the start of the COVID-19 crisis to support fossil fuels. is compares with just $89bn for clean energy.
The report found that this $151bn was broken down into $127bn for oil and gas, and $10.2bn for coal. e US has made the biggest support commitments, with $58bn available for fossil fuels and $25.1bn for clean energy.
Guterres said some governments were
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 28 16•July•2020