- Prostitutes, prospectors drive spread in DR Congo mpox capital
- Oil extends rally after Iran attack, Hong Kong resumes surge
- Extreme heat another form of death sentence in Texas jails
- Can music help plants grow? Study suggests sound boosts fungus
- Nike earnings drop, says turnaround will take time
- US dockworkers launch mass strike a month before election
- Iron Dome: Israel's key anti-missile shield
- Cranes stand still as US dockworkers fight for 'future'
- GM reports US sales dip, but says EVs grew
- Sheinbaum takes office as Mexico's first woman president
- Webb telescope detects carbon dioxide on Pluto's largest moon
- Stock markets slump, oil jumps on Middle East concerns
- French PM vows more taxes and spending cuts ahead of budget fight
- Germany inaugurates IBM's first European quantum data centre
- Stock markets diverge as eurozone inflation drops further
- France's richest man takes control of Paris Match magazine
- Anger meets tear gas as Nigeria hardship protests fizzle out
- US dockworkers launch mass strike month before election
- Evacuations from Lebanon: what we know
- Feathers fly at Chanel's Paris fashion return
- UAE oil giant ADNOC swoops on German chemicals firm Covestro
- Eurozone inflation falls under 2% for first time since 2021
- Coldplay ticket scalping fiasco sparks backlash in India
- Droughts drive Spanish boom in pistachio farming
- Tokyo recovers some losses to lead Asian markets higher
- Rural schools empty in North Macedonia due to exodus
- US dockworkers launch strike after labor contract expires
- Thousands evacuated as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan
- Kenya airport whistleblower fears for his life
- Sheinbaum to take office as Mexico's first woman president
- Scientists fear underfunded Argentina research on verge of collapse
- US port officials gird for strike despite last-minute bargaining
- With 118 dead from Hurricane Helene, Biden defends US government response
- Breeder who tried to create enormous trophy sheep jailed in US
- Qatar Airways seeking 25% stake in Virgin Australia
- US port officials gird for strike as labor talks stay stuck
- As toll crosses 100, Trump puts Hurricane Helene at election center stage
- US Fed Chair sees 'further disinflation' in economy
- Epic Games sues Google and Samsung over app store
- Officials see no shortages from likely US port strike
- UK families of Gaza hostages warn Lebanon attack 'takes focus away'
- Shares in Stellantis, Aston Martin skid on profit warnings
- Dali prints found in London garage sold at auction
- ECB chief backs bank mergers amid UniCredit, Commerzbank talk
- China stocks soar on stimulus, but US and Europe retreat
- 100 dead in storm Helene damage, flooding across US southeast
- China stocks soar on stimulus, Europe slides on automaker woes
- German antitrust watchdog steps up monitoring of Microsoft
- Nepal's urban poor count cost of 'nightmare' floods
- E.Guinea, Gabon clash at ICJ over oil-rich islands
Climate-stricken world needs renewables Marshall Plan: UN chief
UN chief Antonio Guterres on Wednesday outlined what amounts to a global Marshall Plan for ushering in a world powered by renewable energy rather than coal, gas and oil.
To avoid catastrophic climate change, humanity must "end fossil fuel pollution and accelerate the renewable energy transition, before we incinerate our only home," he said in prerecorded remarks timed to coincide with the release of a major UN state-of-climate report.
Renewable technologies should be treated as freely available "global public goods", unconstrained by intellectual property, he said.
One option might be so-called patent pooling, as has been done by major drug companies to speed the delivery of life-saving drugs for HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, noted a senior UN official who asked not to be named.
"The Secretary-General believes that the conversation around intellectual property should happen because we are in a crisis," the UN official said.
"If we have a ready solution, why not relax intellectual property rules so that solution can help us solve this crisis?"
Guterres singled out battery storage, calling for an international coalition of industry, tech companies and financial institutions, led by governments, to "fast-track innovation and deployment".
Solar and wind are the fastest growing clean energy technologies, but storing renewable electricity that can only be generated when the sun is shining or the wind blowing has been a persistent bottleneck for even more rapid rollout.
- Not fast enough -
It was unclear whether Guterres envisions a new oversight body or favours working through existing structures, such as the 86-nation International Solar Alliance or the G20 group of major economies.
The UN chief's five-point plan to "jump-start" a renewables boom also called for scaling-up and diversifying the supply of critical components and raw materials, such as rare Earth metals.
Currently, lithium -- crucial to the manufacture of electric vehicle batteries -- is sourced from a handful of countries, with China controlling 80 percent of global refining, according to BloombergNEF.
Transitioning to clean energy will also require far greater supplies of copper, silicon, nickel, cobalt and other elements that are scarce and/or in high demand.
Europe alone is estimated to need 35 times more lithium than it uses today over the next three decades.
Expanding renewable capacity is forecast to account for almost 95 percent of the increase in global electricity through 2026, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
But projected growth is not nearly fast enough to ensure the Paris Agreement target of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.
Currently, solar and wind energy only account for eight percent of global electricity generation. Adding hydro and other renewable sources pushes the total up to 30 percent, with coal and gas still dominant overall.
- $11 million -
Guterres also said governments must cut red tape and streamline approvals for solar and wind projects.
The IEA has identified the issuing of permits and grid integration as major barriers to accelerating renewables deployment.
"In Europe, it takes eight years for a wind project to be approved," the UN official said.
"In the United States, I understand that it can take as much as a decade at the federal level alone, where one needs to go through about 28 federal agencies."
The UN Secretary-General also called for an end to approximately half-a-trillion dollars in fossil fuel subsidies, roughly two-thirds of which go to consumers and the rest directly to industry.
"Every minute of every day, coal, oil and gas receive roughly $11 million in subsidies," Guterres said.
"While people suffer from high prices at the pump, the oil and gas industry is raking in billions from a distorted market," he added. "This scandal must stop."
Finally, Guterres challenged private and public finance to scale up investment in solar and wind to at least $4 trillion a year, more than triple current levels.
Development banks and finance institutions should align their lending portfolios with the Paris treaty temperature targets by 2024, he said.
C.Smith--CPN