Former UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon has sent a note of warning to the UK against fracking— the process of drilling down into the earth before a high-pressure water mixture is directed at the rock to release the gas inside.
This is as the world stands at a “dangerous” point in the climate crisis, brought on by the invasion of Ukraine.
The UK government had signalled that though an unlikely one, fracking was still a possibility. Ministers have come under pressure to back fracking, from some backbenchers and sections of the media, even though it is unlikely to be economically viable and would do nothing to ease the current crisis as it would take years to produce any gas.
According to Ban Ki-moon, who is now deputy chair of the Elders group of former world statespeople and public figures, countries faced stark choices as a result of the Ukraine war and energy crisis and must embrace renewable energy instead of returning to fossil fuels.
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He said, “I think it’s dangerous – just look at the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report,”. “There is no time for us to lose, even under normal conditions [before the Ukraine war] we were far behind the pace.”
The former secretary who was referring to the latest warning from scientists last month, called on the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to end the war if he is a man of global vision, humanity, compassion.
“He must stop,” Ki-moon said. “Whatever grievances he may have and concerns he may have; he can negotiate later rather than killing people.”
He warned that the Ukraine war, in addition to being “outrageous in the 21st century”, would have an impact on the climate crisis, hence governments should not try to secure greater supplies of fossil fuels as they sought alternatives to imports of Russian oil and gas, on which the EU, the US and the UK have now placed restrictions.
“This [war] will impact the international community’s effort to address climate issues, and the pandemic issues,” he said in an interview. “I am concerned that some European countries are even now considering how to address oil and energy shortages [by seeking] exports of some other [sources of] gas or oil. In the UK, there is some idea of releasing the ban on fracking. These are very short term, unproductive ideas.” The former secretary said.
He maintained that fracking in the UK would be “not a good idea as it’s the very short-term gain that will lose the long-term interest of humanity.
“I hope the politicians have some longer vision for the benefit of the whole world.” He said.
Story was adapted from the Guardian.
