UN calls for clean energy path to world leaders
On Thursday (9), the Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres, called on "all leaders to choose the path of clean energy" in their plans for economic recovery post-Covid-19 and encouraged countries to ban the use of coal.
On climate change, the secretary said that "support for sectors such as industry, aviation and transportation must be conditional on its adaptation to the objectives of the Paris Agreement" and that its goal is to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions to keep warming "well below 2°C" compared to the pre-industrial era.
Guterres also cited positive examples, such as plans by the European Union and South Korea, and Nigeria's choice to reform its subsidy structure for the fossil energy sector. However, citing the report on the recovery plans envisaged at the G20, the secretary lamented: "they show that twice the money (taxpayers' money) was spent on fossil energy, not clean energy."
