UN chief praises KSA’s investment in renewables

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that if we fail to change course by 2020, we will no longer be able to avoid uncontrolled climate change. (AFP)

• We need to curb deadly greenhouse gas emissions, push climate action, and swiftly shift away from our dependence on fossil fuel

JEDDAH: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called on other rich nations to follow the example of the Kingdom in investing in renewables, during a speech in which he warned of the dire consequences of failing to tackle climate change and the world’s dependence on fossil fuels.
He said: “We need to curb deadly greenhouse gas emissions, push climate action, and swiftly shift away from our dependence on fossil fuel,” urging the world’s rich countries to diversify their economies. In a speech on climate change at the UN permanent headquarters in New York before the Global Climate Action Summit, to be held in San Francisco from Sept. 12 to 14, the secretary-general said that the world is facing a “direct existential threat.”
He warned that if we fail to change course by 2020, we will no longer be able to avoid uncontrolled climate change, and its accompanying dire consequences for people and natural systems.
A report published last Wednesday concluded that switching to renewable energy will not only save money but will also create new jobs, waste less water, boost food production and clean polluted air that kills people.