The international community must ensure that the global shift from fossil fuels to clean energy is equitable, UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said on Monday in New York.
Governments, industry and other key players can now deploy a new action-oriented toolkit to ensure the global energy transition unfolds with equity, justice and sustainability as demand for minerals for renewables is poised to almost triple by 2030, according to a report released on Wednesday by a diverse expert panel convened by the UN chief.
A small but growing number of countries are well on their way to producing all of their electricity from renewable sources. Dominica, in the eastern Caribbean, is planning to join these pioneers and become the first small island developing State (SIDS) to stop using fossil fuels for energy generation.
The UN is helping to ensure that developing countries benefit from clean energy. In Madagascar, a promising initiative is showing the potential of clean electrification to change lives.
According to energy industry experts, we’re in the middle of a massive expansion of renewable energy sources, and it’s likely to continue. At the UN climate conference in Dubai at the end of last year, governments committed to tripling global capacity by 2030, and the International Energy Agency, for one, is bullish about that goal being achieved.
But will developing countries benefit?
Transitioning to renewable energy is the key to securing humanity’s survival, as “without renewables, there can be no future”, according to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, ahead of the International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies, marked on 7 September.
The flame of injustice is “scorching hopes and possibilities” across Africa as the world grapples with the climate crisis, with the continent suffering some of the worst impacts of global warming said the UN chief on Tuesday.
The global transition to renewable energy will require greater investment in integrated weather and climate services, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday.
Although cascading global crises are undermining hard fought development gains, “now is not the time for despair", UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed told African ministers and policy makers meeting in Niamey, Niger, on Tuesday.
Although electricity is critical to healthcare provision, nearly a billion people in poorer countries - one-eighth of the global population - are served by health facilities that lack reliable supply, a UN-backed report launched on Saturday has revealed.