The Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions to the UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ Michael Bloomberg has announced a new commitment to help 15 developing countries across the world to accelerate the transition to renewable energy.
The countries include Botswana, Cambodia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Morocco, Mexico, Philippines, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Thailand and Uganda.
Bloomberg made the announcement at the UN Climate Action: Race to Zero and Resilience Forum which took place during the UN General Assembly high-level week in New York.
It comes as the Secretary-General held an Informal Leaders’ Roundtable on Climate Action with a group of diverse Heads of State and Government to urgently accelerate ambitions and actions as climate impacts continue to intensify across the world.
Read also: Climate groups call for removal of World Bank Chief
The Special Envoy said, “we’re expanding our clean energy work to 15 new countries. We’ll work with our partners on the ground to accelerate their transition away from fossil fuels and improve the health of their citizens and economies,”.
Earlier this year, he announced efforts to turbocharge clean energy transition in 10 other countries – Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Turkey, and Vietnam.
Recent months have seen historic floods in Pakistan, crippling heat waves throughout Asia and Europe, wildfires across the Americas, and droughts and food insecurity in the Horn of Africa region.
And the transition to renewable energy that will allow countries to end their addiction to fossil fuels – by far the largest contributor to climate change – is said to be one of the most critical solutions to the climate crisis.
The International Energy Agency said that global renewable energy capacity broke a new record in 2021 with the addition of 295 gigawatts of power and is expected to reach 320 gigawatts in 2022 – an amount that is enough to meet Germany’s entire electricity demand, for example.
“In his reaction, Damilola Ogunbiyi, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All said that developing countries around the world need support to unlock their potential for clean, reliable energy generation.
He was referring to the abundant potential for solar, wind and other renewable energy capacity and the growing demand for sustainable power production in the 15 countries.
Apart from reducing emissions, Shifting to renewables will also create jobs, improve infrastructure, and provide accessible and affordable power. Latest estimates show that every dollar of investment in renewables creates three times more jobs than in the fossil fuel industry.
The Special Envoy, at the Race to Zero and Resilience Forum also launched the Bloomberg Countdown to COP27 – a 45-day long series of initiatives and commitments aimed at delivering on the Secretary-General’s call for urgent climate action leading into the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in November 2022.
Story was adapted from United Nations.
