08:45
A big ask
To have any chance of beating the climate crisis, it will be essential to radically upend the energy mix, slashing the proportion of fossil fuels that currently dominate energy production, and ramping up the use of renewables.
This is a big ask, and will require a significant step up in political will for change. Today’s event is taking place during the high-level General Debate of the UN General Assembly, which saw important commitments made by China and the US, the world’s largest economies, towards advancing the transition towards a clean economy.
US President Joe Biden committed to significantly increase the country’s international climate financing to approximately $11.4 billion a year, a proportion of which will go towards ramping up investments in renewable energy sources.
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, used his address to the General Assembly to announce end all financing of coal fired power plants abroad and, instead support green and low carbon energy.
In a statement released in response to the U.S. and China announcements, UN chief António Guterres flagged that there is still a long way to go and that, based on Member States’ current emission reduction commitments, “the world is on a catastrophic pathway to 2.7 degrees of heating”.
This is the backdrop to today’s conference, which is expected to see several new energy commitments made. Stay with us for the highlights!
