As London Climate Week continued amid the country’s only second red heat alert a leading scientist has said there needs to be more done to support the dire warning from the secretary general of the united nations.

Bill Hare, (above) CEO and senior scientist at Climate Analytics made his comments following the speech by António Guterres in which he said fossil fuels are creating a feature crisis.

He said: “The UN secretary-general is absolutely right to plant a flag in the ground for science and respect for scientific integrity, because attempts to undermine science are currently reaching unprecedented intensity.

“At the UN climate talks in Bonn earlier this month, we saw governments from some
fossil fuel-reliant economies trying to block science, including trying to prevent the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change from doing its job of informing crucial stages in the negotiations and to delete or water down references to the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit in crucial decisions.

“It’s a very strange definition of self-interest to say ‘I don’t want to actually see the danger right in front of me,’ but that’s where these governments are right now; and it’s in the interests of everyone, especially people in the most climate vulnerable countries, that they do not succeed.”

In London Guterres said: “This summit takes on urgent tasks, at an urgent moment:  advancing the energy transition – at speed and scale, and with justice; and building a new global economy for all, powered by clean, affordable electricity.

“Earlier I spoke about two interconnected crises.  Crisis number one  – accelerating climate chaos – pushing us beyond [the] 1.5-degree Celsius temperature limit and towards dangerous, irreversible tipping points.  And crisis number two – the most severe energy upheaval in years – pushing up prices, straining economies and fuelling inflation.  These two crises share one common cause:  fossil fuels.

“And yet, fossil fuels still account for around 80 per cent of global energy use.  And three quarters of people live in countries dependent on imported fossil fuels – energy they do not control, at prices they cannot predict.

“We must turn the page – and we have an historic opportunity to do so, through clean electrification, powered by renewables.  Renewables are now the cheapest, fastest and most scalable source of new electricity in most of the world.”

He continued: “Last year, over 90 per cent of new renewable power projects delivered clean electricity at a lower cost than fossil fuels.  Wind and solar are now leading all new electricity demand growth worldwide.  When I became Secretary-General, less than 1 in 100 cars sold worldwide were electric. Today, [it] is one in three.

“Clean energy investment is now double that of fossil fuels.  And global investment in battery storage is expected to exceed $100 billion in 2026.”

“To deliver on global net zero emissions by 2050, annual clean energy investment in those countries must rise more than fivefold and reach $2 trillion by 2035,” Guterres.

added.  “That demands bold national policies and concrete international action to reform the global financial architecture.

“Credit ratings agencies and investors must modernise the way they calculate risk.  And we need innovative financial solutions that reduce genuine risk, lower the cost of capital and crowd in private investment  And we need to drastically increase the lending capacity of multilateral development banks – making them bigger, bolder and better able to leverage massive amounts of private finance at reasonable costs.”

He concluded: “The transition must deliver for all – creating opportunity, dignity and sustainable development.  We need a boost in support for low-income countries that are struggling to make the shift.  The UN will do its part – supporting developing countries to build modern, resilient and interconnected grids.

“And the UN Task Force on Critical Energy Transition Minerals is working with resource-rich developing countries to embed justice and equity across the mineral value chains.

“This must be an opportunity to reject old models of resource exploitation and replace them with high value-added processing and manufacturing in countries endowed with these resources.  No more extraction without development.

“The age of clean electrification is here.  The question is whether we can build the grids and storage, mobilise the investment and deliver the infrastructure at the speed and scale required. Let us seize this moment – for energy security, economic stability and a liveable future for all.”

“This summit takes on urgent tasks, at an urgent moment:  advancing the energy transition – at speed and scale, and with justice; and building a new global economy for all, powered by clean, affordable electricity.’’

António Guterres, United Nations