UN Secretary-General Says Fossil Fuel Age is Flailing and Failing

Today, UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivered a special address on climate action, saying that “countries that cling to fossil fuels are not protecting their economies – they are sabotaging them”. 

In response, Shady Khalil, Senior Global Policy Strategist at Oil Change International, said: 

“United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has said loud and clear: the fossil fuel era is ending and the renewable energy transition is now unstoppable. 

“And yet, Global North countries like the U.S., Canada, Norway, and Australia are still gearing up for massive oil and gas expansion. They are not just ignoring the crisis – they are actively driving it. This is not leadership. This is reckless and gluttonous short-termism, and it will backfire on their own economies. 

“COP30 is an opportunity for countries to course correct by working together. World leaders must show up with 1.5°C-aligned national climate plans, be prepared to deliver a collective roadmap for equitable, differentiated phase out dates for fossil fuels, and address the systemic barriers preventing developing countries from transitioning to renewable energy. Rich countries must deliver the climate finance they owe to the Global South as well as support wider financial system reform and debt relief efforts that are critical to enable a fair fossil fuel phase-out.”

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Notes: 

• Recently published analysis from Oil Change International shows that just four Global North countries – the United States, Canada, Norway, and Australia – are collectively responsible for nearly 70% of projected CO2 pollution from new oil and gas expansion from 2025 to 2035. If these four countries halted their planned new oil and gas extraction, 32 billion tonnes (Gt) of carbon pollution would be kept in the ground. This is equivalent to three times the annual emissions of all the world’s coal power plants combined.
• Wealthy countries have the means to mobilise over 5 trillion dollars every year for climate action by ending their fossil fuel subsidies, making polluters pay and changing unfair global financial rules, to support Global South countries to transition to renewable energy and support other public goods.
• Recently published Oil Change International report Private Fantasies, Public Realities: Why private finance isn’t delivering an energy transition and the case for public sector leadership details how governments’ dominant “private-sector first” approach to financing a just energy transition is prolonging the fossil fuel era.