The United Nations climate chief seized on slumping oil prices to make a case for phasing out fossil fuels and turning toward renewable energy.
Christiana Figueres said Monday that oil price volatility “is exactly one of the main reasons why we must move to renewable energy which has a completely predictable cost of zero for fuel” when solar and wind electricity generation is built.
Oil prices slumped to five-year lows following the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ decision to maintain production levels, though Brent crude prices recovered to close at $72.54 on Monday.
Figueres was speaking at a United Nations conference in Lima, Peru, that aims to net a draft text for a climate deal heading into formal negotiations next year in Paris, where nations hope to establish a framework for governing emissions reductions beyond 2020.
In a nod to climate policies being undertaken in the United States, China, the European Union and elsewhere, along with a growing movement urging universities, cities, foundations and financial institutions to divest from fossil fuel firms, Figueres said that “we are seeing more and more the realization that investment in fossil fuel is actually a high risk, is getting more and more risky.”
Renewable energy is expected to grab about 60 percent of the $5 trillion expected to be invested in power plants over the coming decade, according to the International Energy Agency. Climate policies in China, the U.S., the EU and Japan has much to do with it. Spending is already beginning to reflect wariness over greenhouse gas emissions — $250 billion has been pumped into wind, solar, geothermal and other renewable sources this year, according to Bloomberg.
But some are worried that the current downturn in oil prices could slash investment in lower-carbon fuels.
“On the way down, what we’re looking at is how does this affect the investment in efficiency and alternative fuels,” Sam Ori, executive vice president for energy security group Securing America’s Future Energy, told the Washington Examiner. “These crashes downward have tended to undermine that investment.”
