Oil and gas industry becoming a fossil

Oct 05, 2021 News

– It’s time to build a sustainable green economy – UN Secretary General warns at Trade Conference

Kaieteur News – United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, issued a stern warning yesterday morning, that the oil and gas industry is destined to become a fossil hence, the need for nations to act as quickly as possible to build and support a sustainable green economy. The official made these remarks at the opening of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD 15) in Bridgetown, Barbados. UNCTAD-15 is expected to continue until Thursday.

UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres

During his remarks, the UN Secretary General thanked Barbados’ Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, and all Barbadians for their warm welcome and particularly, PM Mottley for providing insight into the enormous effort her government is making to ensure Barbados is able to defeat COVID-19, climate change, and inequality in the world.
The UN official said, “Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like Barbados are looking to the future with worry and increasingly, to the global community with a cynical eye. (This is) for good reason. They hear the words, but do not see the actions behind them. We often act as if we have another planet waiting for us. We don’t.”
The Secretary General added, “A green and resilient recovery means committing to net-zero emissions by mid-century. It means more ambitious 2030 climate and biodiversity plans and the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (also known as COP26) in Glasgow must keep the 1.5 degree goal of the Paris Agreement alive.”
Guterres also noted that the building of a green economy worldwide will require no new coal plants, the phasing-out subsidies for fossil fuels and polluting industries, and putting a price on carbon and channeling that back to schools, hospitals, social protections, and job-creation.
It will also require supporting developing countries as they make the shift to green economies said Guterres. He stressed that this can only be done by developed countries implementing the promise to provide at least US$100 billion every year for action on climate change.
For countries like Barbados on the frontlines of the climate crisis, Guterres said adapting and building resilience is not a luxury — it is an urgent priority.
“Right now, adaptation remains the neglected half of the climate equation, accounting for only 25 percent of climate finance in support of developing countries,” expressed Guterres.
He was also keen to note that small island developing states only receive a fraction of the funding that goes to developing countries for adaptation — less than two per cent in 2019. He further noted that small island developing countries, the most impacted by climate change, received less than two percent in 2019 of the support to the developing countries. With this in mind, Guterres reiterated his call for donors and multilateral development banks to allocate at least 50 percent of their climate support towards adaptation and resilience.
In closing, Guterres said it is time for all countries to start making better choices and end the practice of waiting to see who will make the first move. He said all countries, developed and developing, have a responsibility to act.
Guterres said, “The fossil fuel economy is itself becoming a fossil; one that has left its imprint on our earth for too long. It’s time to shift our support to building a sustainable green economy.”

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