Guest blog: The power and freedom of net zero
Guest blog by Nigel Topping, UN High-Level ClimateAction Champion for COP26
A world driven by hydrocarbons is a more conflict
driven world. The adoption of the Versailles Declaration – where EU Member
States asked the Commission to prepare a detailed plan by the end of May to cut
gas dependency – is a signal that this crisis can and must accelerate, rather than
derail, the march towards cheaper, more secure, clean energy.
The reasons for this are well known but have become
blurred recently amid some calls to ramp up oil and gas exploration and
production to fill the gap left by Russia. Such calls mistake a short-term
political reflex with the structural changes driving the long-term
direction of travel. As the International Energy Agency has made
clear, responses to the emerging energy crisis do not need to – and indeed
should not – compromise our international climate goals, which means no new oil
and gas exploration and development this century. This has been echoed
repeatedly by the UN Secretary-General and by business leaders, who support the rapid
scaling up of renewables, energy efficiency and electrification as the best way
of increasing energy security and independence in the EU and globally.
But with coal, oil and gas supplies now punctured by
Russia’s isolation (particularly in Europe and the West), leaders must double
down on the green energy transformation. They owe it to people to resist the
dangerous siren calls for a quick ‘fix’ of fossil fuels, domestic or foreign,
that simply masks and prolongs the energy crisis causing pain for families and
homes.
The impacts of the current energy crisis will
not be limited to Europe alone. The conflict in Ukraine is the most recent in a
series of cascading crises having a profound impact on development aspirations
and inequalities of geographies across the globe. Rises in gas prices are
already being felt in places like Kenya and in climate-exposed Small Island
Developing States, many of which are completely dependent on fossil fuel
imports.
The first, best way to lower energy bills and enhance
energy security – is to use less energy: we must learn from Japan’s
response to Fukushima in 2011 and the UK in the 1970s energy crisis, by
reducing consumption of energy. Today, many of our leaky, draughty homes waste
nearly two-thirds of the energy we pay for. Imagine the potential to lower
people’s utility bills forever, ensure the elderly have warm homes in winter –
and create millions of decent jobs globally – by investing in buildings’
efficiency retrofits. It’s a no-brainer.
At the same time, we must accelerate the shift to
renewable and zero-carbon energy. This is to the economy’s benefit, because it
is:
- Cheaper: Renewables are the cheapest form of new
electricity in history – now undercutting the cost of fossil fuels almost
everywhere on the planet.
- More secure: Because the energy is ours, it cuts
our dependence on foreign governments – and insulates consumers from
painful price swings in international markets.
- Quick(er) to scale up: Building new fossil fuel
infrastructure is slower than installing renewable capacity – it takes 28
years to develop a new oil well on average, vs. two years for a solar
farm.
- Healthier: Reversing the pollution blanket that is
killing millions of children and adults around the world.
- Create more jobs: Jobs in renewables will grow
fivefold, from 4.4 million today to 22 million by 2050, while jobs in the
fossil-fuel sector will, at the same time, fall from 12.6 million to 3.1
million.
- And on top of all that it’s greener: It cuts the
emissions from dirty energy that is causing air pollution, and driving
climate change.
The way forward is clear: we know how to make the
transition and some countries are already showing considerable leadership.
Morocco and Egypt are rapidly scaling up their renewable energy capacity, and
showing how collaboration with other countries can help everyone go farther and
faster together.
The EuroAfrica Interconnector is providing 2,000MW
electricity between Egypt, Cyprus, Greece and Europe, representing an
“electricity highway” connecting the national electricity grids of Egypt,
Cyprus and Greece through a 1,396km subsea HVDC cable.
Meanwhile, the Xlinks Morocco-UK Power Project will
be a new electricity generation facility entirely powered by solar and wind
energy combined with a battery storage facility. Located in Morocco’s renewable
energy rich region of Guelmim Oued Noun, it will cover an approximate area of
1,500km2 and will be connected exclusively to the UK via 3,800km HVDC subsea
cables. The project is also facilitating a just transition by creating nearly
10,000 jobs during construction in the region, while simultaneously creating
associated jobs in the UK via submarine power connectors.
These are just a few examples of the tools we already
have to transition to a world reliant on clean, flexible, distributed and
unlimited renewable fuels – sunshine, wind, tides. To a world of greater energy
independence and access to affordable energy sources.
This is the time to double down on the global race to
zero emissions and systemic resilience to the impacts of climate change. It’s
the time to pivot away from expensive, volatile, conflict-creating fossil fuels
– towards a cheaper, fairer, stabler, clean energy system. If we respond as the
climate crisis demands, we may find that this current energy crisis pulls the
future of better energy forward by as much as a decade, in how we consume and
produce energy.
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