United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres scolded world leaders Monday for seeking to increase fossil fuel production to counter high energy prices, accusing them of being “dangerous radicals” who deviate from the climate change effort.
A new international report from the UN’s climate panel also called for more aggressive action to mitigate global warming.
The report, produced by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), concluded that there is a closing window of opportunity for the world to act to meet ambitious parameters laid out under the Paris Agreement.
“Climate activists are sometimes depicted as dangerous radicals. But the truly dangerous radicals are the countries that are increasing the production of fossil fuels,” Mr. Guterres said in a statement. “Investing in new fossil fuels infrastructure is moral and economic madness. Such investments will soon be stranded assets — a blot on the landscape, and a blight on investment portfolios.”
Countries around the world, including the U.S., have called for more oil and natural gas production to blunt high energy prices that have been exacerbated by inflation, demand that has outpaced supply and Russia’s war against Ukraine. At the same time, these same countries have advocated for an accelerated transition to renewable energy sources.
Global greenhouse gas emissions would need to peak before 2025 at the latest and be reduced by 43% by 2030 if the globe is to remain on target to limit global warming to around 1.5°C (2.7°F) included in the Paris Agreement, the report said. That would also mean achieving net-zero carbon dioxide emissions globally in the early 2050s.
The report further warned that if countries fail to enact more rigorous emissions reduction measures, the median global warming will be 3.2°C (5.76°F) by 2100, an increase that the IPCC and other climate reports have warned would likely have a detrimental effect on people and ecosystems.
It was the third and final installment of a series of IPCC reports on how to combat climate change.
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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