A new report by leading climate change researchers has shown that soaring energy prices spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are leading to new investment in oil and gas.
The report by Climate Action Tracker (CAT) shows that the world risks being locked into “irreversible warming” following the “gold rush” for new fossil fuel projects.
The report shows that there is a broad consensus that the emission of gases produced by fossil fuels must be dramatically cut by 2030 which is seen as the only path that would keep global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees and avoid the most damaging effects of climate change.
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In his reaction to the report which comes as diplomats meet at the UN Bonn Climate Change conference amid new, energy security worries, Prof. Niklas Höhne of NewClimate Institute, a CAT partner, said there seems to be a “gold rush for new fossil fuel infrastructure”.
“Supposedly it helps with short-term energy supply, but new infrastructure once it’s built will be there for decades and we will definitely miss the climate targets,” he said.
Ahead of the conference, US envoy on climate change John Kerry warned that the war in Ukraine must not be used as an excuse to prolong global reliance on coal. He also criticised several large countries for not living up to the promises they made at the COP26 climate summit in 2021.
Reports show that since the start of the war in Ukraine, most Western countries have sought to reduce or completely stop buying Russian fossil fuels, even as many of them have announced more ambitious targets for transitioning to renewable energy sources like wind and solar, while also seeking non-Russian sources of gas and oil.
Story was adapted from BBC.
