Following the World Meteorological Organization’s 2021 State of the Climate report, which says greenhouse gas concentrations, global ocean temperatures, and sea-level rise hit a new record last year, UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Wednesday unveiled a plan of 5 points designed to give impetus to the broader use of renewable energy, the Associated Press reported.
“We must end fossil fuel pollution and accelerate the transition to renewable energy before we burn down our only home. Time is running out,” Guterres said.
The fact that a global environmental catastrophe is coming, Guterres said directly and without prejudice.
“The last seven years have been the seven hottest in the entire history of observations on the planet. The effects of extreme weather have resulted in hundreds of billions of dollars of deaths, illness, migration and economic losses, according to the WMO, and the effects are continuing this year.” he added.
“Today’s State of the Climate Report is a grim list of humanity’s inability to deal with climate disruption. The global energy system is disrupted and is bringing us closer to a climate catastrophe.” Guterres added.
His plan, which builds on the next UN climate conference to be held in Egypt this November, is designed to promote technology transfer and deprotection of intellectual property in renewable technologies such as battery storage.
But the difficulty is that such a proposal could irritate technology innovators and their financial backers, who intend to reap the rewards of their knowledge, investments, and discoveries rather than just giving them away for free.
In addition, Guterres wants to expand access to supply chains and raw materials used in renewable technologies and use from renewable energy, which are now concentrated in several of the most developed countries.
The UN plan calls for reforms by governments so they can promote renewable energy, for example, by accelerating s