Climate change will hasten humanitarian disasters around the world in 2023, in addition to the fears created by armed conflict and economic recessions.
The number of people in humanitarian need has risen steeply in the last decade, nearing 339.2 million. The need is to invest more proactively in climate change stoppage and lessening.
The number of people forced to flee their homes has increased. Climate change is among the key factors speeding up humanitarian tragedies.
The last year has shown that the role of climate change in quickening the global humanitarian crisis is undeniable. Record-long periods of rains brought catastrophic food insecurity in some countries and killed thousands in Pakistan.
The gap between humanitarian necessities and its funding has apparently grown to a global deficit of over $27 billion.
Donors are failing to respond consistently. The result is that communities affected by the crisis are unable to access the services they need to survive, recover and rebuild.
There is a growing need to raise greater awareness about solar and renewable energy and ensure an increased flow of funds for the development of the same.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) following the unfolding scenario very carefully has disclosed in a recent report that investment in solar power is likely to overtake oil for the first time this year as clean energy spending might outpace that for fossil fuels.
The IEA Executive Director has also observed technologies are pulling away from fossil fuels. While that is a welcome development, the IEA has pointed out that investment in fossil fuels is also rising when it should be falling fast to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
High oil and gas prices and a worry about supplies have seen spending on renewables surge ahead. One shining example has been investment in solar power. The IEA expects investment in solar power essentially, in photovoltaic panels, to hit USD 380b this year, while investment in oil exploration and extraction to be around USD 370b.
The IEA has also alleged that the major energy companies are not putting considerable funds into the generation of green energy.
The low price of solar power generation will help decarburization efforts as electric car adaptation gathers pace. However, there is concern that if solar power implementation is not undertaken in a coordinated manner then investment in fossil power could increase further by 2030.
The IEA has also noted that clean energy investment was concentrated in advanced nations and China. On the other hand, the biggest investment in fossil fuels was taking place in Middle Eastern countries.
Saudi ARAMCO has indicated that the time is coming for the required change to facilitate the use of green energy as an important aspect of our lives. Such a scenario underlines that we, all over the world, need to understand the need to carefully transform our economy and power generation towards renewable energy.
Right now, the growth in producing and using renewable energy sources is not near the required paradigm that could reduce global warming.
Analysts say the latest G7 Summit has disappointed the world and environmentalists by not underlining the need to tackle further climate vulnerability by setting deadlines on the use of fossil fuels — gas and coal.
While the G7 energy and environment ministers pledged to decarbonize the power sector, they were unable to reach a consensus as to whether this could happen by 2035. They agreed on the need to end the construction of new coal-fired power plants but could not clearly agree on the rollout of renewable sources.
They, however, supported the adoption of international standards for calculating the carbon intensity of hydrogen considered green when made using renewable energy.
