António Guterres Urges IEA Ministers in Paris to End Fossil Fuel Taboo

UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the gradual phase-out of fossil fuels must not be a taboo topic, urging participants at a ministerial meeting of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris to stop treating the energy transition as a taboo topic.

“The African continent is endowed with massive but untapped energy resources, including both conventional and unconventional resources”

allAfrica

In his video message, Guterres said the world has entered the era of clean energy and that renewable energy is now "the cheapest, fastest, and most reliable new source of electricity, virtually everywhere."

allAfrica

He warned that "global dependence on fossil fuels constitutes one of the greatest threats to global stability and prosperity," and said three-quarters of humanity live in fossil-fuel-importing countries.

Guterres called for the creation of a global platform to develop a fair, orderly, and affordable transition plan aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, and said the platform would bring together producers and consumers, developed and developing countries, public and private financial institutions, and civil society.

A report from allAfrica said more than 600 million Africans have no access to electricity, while the continent exports about half of its oil and gas production.

It cited the International Energy Agency (IEA) saying achieving universal electricity access across sub-Saharan Africa by 2035 will require investment of approximately $15 billion per year, yet less than $2.5 billion per year is currently being committed.

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The same analysis said modelling by the Institute for Security Studies African Futures (AFI-ISS) team shows that, as domestic energy use surges, the continent will likely become a net energy importer before 2040.

It also described underdeveloped supply systems and weak national and regional grids, adding that average transmission line losses of 15% undermine even what little capacity is built.

The piece argued that Africa’s cities lie at the heart of the unfolding energy story and said the IEA estimates Africa holds approximately 60% of the world’s best solar resources, yet the continent attracts only about 2% of global clean energy investment.

Climate Home News quoted Harjeet Singh, a climate activist and strategic advisor to the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative and founding director of the Satat Sampada Climate Foundation, saying global climate talks perfected policy paralysis around fossil fuels for thirty years.

Singh argued that within the UNFCCC negotiations the “consensus card” was played with surgical precision by the fossil fuel industry and wealthy producer nations to block meaningful action, and he said talks were restricted to the “demand side” while the “supply side” was treated as a forbidden subject.

He pointed to COP30 in Belém and said the final outcome contained no fossil fuel phase-out mandate, while the COP30 Presidency announced a “roadmap” initiative at the very end of the talks.

Singh also described the First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta as moving from the “if” to the “how,” and said Global South countries demanded dedicated conferences.

He concluded by saying, "Developed nations must stop using “climate finance” as a tool to open new markets for their multinational corporations and put actual, grant-based finance on the table to support the transition in the Global South."