FASTER energy transitions are core to national security strategies, and renewables are central to economic security, peace and stability, says United Nations Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell.
Speaking at a General Assembly dialogue on accelerating the global energy transition, Stiell said he had travelled to New York directly from India, where corporate leaders extolled the benefits of clean energy.
He said clean energy meant “growth, jobs, and stronger security” and called it “secure energy.”
“Conflict has taken an appalling human toll and choked global energy markets,” he said, adding that renewables frontrunners like Spain and Pakistan had been shielded from some of the worst effects of today’s fossil fuel cost crisis.
He said a world dependent on coal, oil and gas was a world of “economic uncertainty, unnecessary costs, and conflict,” warning that climate-related shocks, economic downturns and conflict were driving higher food prices and greater scarcity.
Stiell said renewables were cheaper, more accessible and faster to market, and urged governments to accelerate renewables, electrification and efficiency.
He said the transition must be faster to meet the demands of science, fairer so every nation benefits, and just for countries and communities historically dependent on fossil fuel revenues.
He also called for cooperation through regional power pools, cross-border connections and common standards, and said finance was essential for countries to bank the benefits of the energy transition and build resilience.
Developed countries, he said, must honour commitments to triple adaptation finance and deliver $USD300 billion per year by 2035 as part of a pathway to $USD1.3 trillion a year.
He also urged multilateral development banks to step up with concessional finance, guarantees and policy-based lending.
“Action now is the basis of long-term peace and security around the world.”
