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UNEP chief urges ending fossil fuel subsidies, coal funding
Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Inger Andersen urged ending fossil fuel subsidies and end domestic and overseas coal funding.
“All countries must exit from coal, especially the G20. And this must be done as expeditiously as possible,” she said during her virtual participation in the Joint Environment and Climate Ministers’ Meeting hosted by the Indonesian G20 Presidency.
“The Ukraine crisis and beyond has created a degree of energy insecurity. But we can see no regression. We cannot go back to dirty fuel. The UN Secretary-General has made clear the green transition is indeed the only transition that we should aim for,” she added.
Four actions needed for addressing climate change:
Andersen called on participating ministers to take four actions to address climate change.
“First, on our energy side, we must invest in clean energy, energy efficiency, and e-mobility. Indeed, we are heading in the right direction. Since 2020, clean energy investments have grown by 12 per cent. Renewables grids and storage investments accounted for 80 percent of total power sector investments,” she said.
“But we do also have an elephant in the room, and we need to name it. We have seen a 10 percent rise in investments in coal supply in 2021. Let us face it, to cool our planet, we must end fossil fuel subsidies and end domestic and overseas coal funding. All countries must exit from coal, especially the G20. And this must be done as expeditiously as possible,” she added.
“The Ukraine crisis and beyond has created a degree of energy insecurity. But we can see no regression. We cannot go back to dirty fuel. The UN Secretary-General has made clear the green transition is indeed the only transition that we should aim for,” she said.
“Second, these ambitious NDCs have to be financed. We promised back in 2009, and again in 2015, that there should be $ 100 billion on the table each year for climate financing. That is the floor. We are getting close to this figure, and I am grateful for the leadership that we have seen thus far. Climate finance is critical. But public finance cannot go it alone. Private sector alliances such as the Glasgow Net-Zero Alliance and others will become important in resource mobilization. It is equally important that we mobilize domestic resources, setting the necessary domestic regulatory guardrails in so doing,” she highlighted.
“Third, NDCs must show real solidarity and by solidarity, I mean, money on the table. I speak to you here from the African continent where 48 countries have requested $1.2 trillion in international financial support by 2030 to finance and implement their NDCs. It is equally important that we close the adaptation gap and meet the needs of low-income countries who require between 5 to 10 times more financing for adaptation than is currently the case,” Andersen said.
“Fourth, the three Rio Conventions are indivisible and therefore the imperative of investing in nature must be an important component of NDCs. This means investing in climate resilience, land productivity and sustainability, because nature is the foundation of our economies and life on Earth. The success of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework requires investment in a thriving, resilient biodiversity. So, it is important that countries live up to the expectations that the world has so that domestic and international financing can be delivered for the global biodiversity framework that will be finalized in negotiations later this year,” she said.
The G20 countries can show leadership by investing at home and internationally, to meet biodiversity targets, land restoration targets, and climate targets by 2050. Investing in resilience and adaptation is critical because almost half of global GDP depends on nature. These investments will make a real difference.
She concluded “it is time to work together. We live in a perilous time for our planet. The triple planetary crisis, the crisis of climate change, of nature loss, and of pollution and waste is upon us. The triple crisis undermines progress on the Sustainable Development Goals. As the UN Secretary-General has noted, this is not the time to play the climate blame game. Half of humanity is in the line of fire. I ask you to take action on climate now.”
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