Secretary-General, at European Union Sustainable Development Summit, Calls on Regional Bloc to Mobilize Resources for Supporting Energy Transition in Key Emerging Economies

Following is the text of UN Secretary‑General António Guterres’ video message for the European Union Sustainable Investment Summit, in Brussels today:

President von der Leyen, Excellencies,

We are one week away from the Twenty-seventh Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27).  Our planet is suffering.  Pakistan has been hit by a flooding disaster beyond imagination.  Europe experienced its hottest summer in 500 years.  Now, many countries are heading towards a winter marked by an energy crisis.

The horrors of the war in Ukraine should not put climate action on the back burner.  Doubling down on fossil fuels is not the answer.  The only path to energy security, stable power prices and a liveable planet lies in accelerating the renewable energy transition.

We must shift subsidies from fossil fuels and triple investments in renewables.  We must remove barriers and make renewable energy storage technology a global public good.  We must lower the cost of capital for renewable energy in developing countries, where investments are up to seven times costlier.  Developed countries must finally mobilize $100 billion annually.  And half of climate finance must flow to adaptation.

The world doesn’t lack financial resources.  But, for many developing countries, investments have dried up.  That is why I am calling for a Sustainable Development Goal stimulus, led by the Group of Twenty.  To increase liquidity for developing countries.  To speed up debt relief.  And to enable investment at scale in the Sustainable Development Goals.

The European Union is leading by example with the European Green Deal, Climate Law and the Fitfor55 package.  We need the European Union to be a bridgebuilder — including by mobilizing resources for international coalitions to support energy transitions in key emerging economies.

COP27 must be a turning point that restores trust between developed and developing countries.  I hope to see many of your leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh, where tangible progress must be made on mitigation, adaptation finance, and loss and damage.  International financial institutions must step up, take more risk and deliver.  Every Government, every business, every investor must play a part in building a sustainable, just and prosperous — 1.5-degree future.

Thank you.