The supply of clean electricity must double by 2030 to prevent climate change from undermining global energy security, the United Nations said Tuesday.
The energy sector is not only a major source of climate change emissions, but also vulnerable to the changes that accompany global warming, says a new report from the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
published on Tuesday.
If the world does not move quickly toward clean energy sources to slow the climate crisis, more extreme weather and water stress will put our energy security at risk and could even compromise our renewable energy supplies, the paper warns.
“The weather is not on our side, and our climate is changing before our eyes,” insists WMO chief Petteri Taalas in a statement. “We need a complete transformation of the global energy system.”
The WMO boss recalls that the energy sector is the source of about three quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions, stressing that “the shift to clean forms of energy production … and improving energy efficiency are vital. But, Taalas warns, achieving net zero emissions by 2050 will only be possible “if we double the supply of low-emission electricity over the next eight years.”
Net zero, or carbon neutrality, will be achieved when carbon dioxide emissions from human activities are balanced on a global scale by CO2 absorptions over a given period.
– Water stress –
This WMO State of Climate Services Report, an annual document that this year focuses on energy, highlights the growing importance of access to reliable weather, water and climate information and services for infrastructure resilience
and meet growing demand.
The impact of weather, water and climate events – made more extreme, more frequent and more intense by global warming – on the reliability of energy access is already notable, the WMO notes in its report.
As an example, the organization cites the massive power outages caused by a historic heat wave in Buenos Aires in January.
In 2020, 87% of the world’s electricity produced from thermal, nuclear and hydroelectric power plants will depend directly on access to water, according to the WMO.
At the same time, one-third of thermal power plants that require fresh water for their operation are located in areas of high water stress, as are 15% of existing nuclear power plants – a share that is expected to rise to 25% over the next 20 years.
Another risk faced by these plants is that they are often located on the coast and are therefore potentially vulnerable to sea level rise and flooding.
The WMO also estimates that 11% of the world’s hydropower capacity is also located in areas of high water stress, while more than a quarter of existing hydropower dams and nearly a quarter of planned dams are located in river basins that are currently struggling with
medium to high water scarcity, WMO says.
The shift to renewable energy will help alleviate growing global water stress, according to the report, which notes that the amount of water used by solar and wind power is far less than that used by traditional power plants.
– Investing in Africa –
For now, countries’ pledges “fall far short” of what is needed to meet the goals set by the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.
According to the report, global investment in renewable energy “must triple by 2050 to put the world on a net zero trajectory.”
WMO calls for more investment in clean energy in
Africa.
This continent, already facing massive droughts and other severe effects of climate change, has garnered only 2% of clean energy investments over the past two decades.
And yet, with 60% of the world’s best solar resources, it has the potential to become a major player in solar energy production, reports the WMO.
“Access to modern energy for all Africans requires an investment of $25 billion per year,” the report said. This is equivalent to about 1% of global energy investment today.
