UN SG Urges Countries to Accelerate Renewable Energy Transition

Rabat – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for rapid action to mitigate the impact of climate change by making sure global temperatures do not increase by more than 1.5-degrees a year.

“To keep the 1.5-degree limit within reach, we need to cut global emissions by 45% this decade,” wrote Guterres on Monday in an Op-Ed for the Washington Post.

The 1.5-degree commitment dates back to the 2016 Paris Agreement. Nearly 200 countries renewed their pledge to help limit global temperatures at the COP 26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland.

“But current climate pledges would mean a 14% increase in emissions and most major emitters [countries] are not taking the steps needed to fulfill even these inadequate promises,” the UN official said in his opinion piece.

To help countries meet Paris Agreement targets the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released on Monday a report titled “Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change.”

The report provides a global assessment of countries’ efforts to meet their climate change commitments. It also studied the sources of global emissions to evaluate the impact of national climate pledges in reaching long-term emission-cut goals.

The report noted a “disastrous” acceleration in global warming indicators, leading to more than double of the 1.5-degree limit by 2100. This means major heat waves, floods, storms, water shortages, and the extinction of 1 million species, explained Guterres.

To alleviate the impact of climate change, the official called for the tripling of efforts for a speedy shift from fossil fuel toward “cheaper” renewable energy sources.

The UN SG also urged the government to subsidize renewable energy projects, stop financing coal extraction, and cooperate with multilateral and private financial institutions as well as corporations to acquire technical knowledge in the field.

Ukrainian war catalyzing the change

The ongoing Russian aggression toward Ukraine continues to inflate the global oil market prices. The war aggravated the need for alternative energy sources in Europe.

As the world’s third-largest oil producer, Russia exports roughly 12% of global trade. Daily the country exports 5 million barrels of crude oil to primarily Europe (60%) and China (20%), according to the International Energy Agency.

The agency added that the European Union imported 155 billion cubic meters of natural gas from Russia in 2021 – 40% of the union’s yearly gas consumption.

To stop Russian expansion in Ukraine, the US and European governments have imposed a series of political and economic sanctions on the Russian state and oligarchs. The measures include the ban on the Russian use of American dollars for transactions.

In response, Putin instructed ruble (Russian currency) payments for natural gas exports.

As the escalation between Russia, the US, and Europe continues, the latter opted for diversification of energy importers and the shift towards renewable energy.

On April 1, IEA announced that its members will start exploiting their emergency reserves to offset the rising oil prices. The 31 members hold an energy stock of 1.5 billion barrels.

A day prior, Biden announced his plan to release 1 million barrels of oil on a daily basis from US strategic reserves.

The European Union quickly reached out to other gas exports such as Qatar, the US, Algeria, Turkey, Japan, and South Korea to diversify its network of energy suppliers.

These measures introduced partial short-term solutions to the issue. Yet renewable energy is the only long-term alternative present to Europe.

“We have been too dependent on Russia for our energy needs…Renewables give us the freedom to choose an energy source that is clean, cheap, reliable, and ours,” said Vice-President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans.

Morocco in this context

Far from Russia and Ukraine, Morocco has been impacted by the ongoing war with transport operators and car owners protesting against rising fuel prices.

The interconnectedness of the global markets explains the ongoing international oil price crisis.

“The way oil economics work is you have a globally priced commodity. So, a disruption anywhere impacts price everywhere,” said David Goldwyn to Al Jazeera. The expert is the head of Goldwyn Global Strategies and a former policy adviser in the Obama administration.

Ahead of the crisis, Morocco has set ambitious goals to boost the transition towards renewable energy, playing a leading role in Africa and the Arab world.

By 2030, Morocco aims to generate 52% of its electricity from renewable energy sources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 45.5%. By 2050, the country seeks to reach 80% renewable energy in the electricity mix.

Being at the core of the country’s sustainable development plans, renewable energy was a present topic in the majority of bilateral meetings held by Moroccan officials and their partners in Europe and Africa.

The North African country signed several energy cooperation agreements with partner countries such as Bahrain, Finland, United Kingdom to consolidate knowledge sharing in the field.

In October, Morocco became the first African country with a Tesla supercharger station. Since then, the Tesla supercharger’s network has expanded to Rabat, Agadir, and Marrakech.

More stations are expected to open across the country, encouraging Moroccan nationals and residents to purchase hybrid or electric cars. The ongoing surge in oil prices represents another incentive for such transition.