Al Gore sees the world at 'tipping point' for climate action

China Reinsurance (Group)

21/09/2022 24:01

* Surging power prices pushing governments to decarbonise
    * Gore cites greater action in the Unites States, Australia
    * Says he is optimistic on further action in Brazil, China

    By Juliette Portala
    LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The world is at a "positive
tipping point" in the fight against climate change as surging
oil and gas costs spur governments to decarbonise faster, former
U.S. Vice President and co-founder of Generation Investment
Management Al Gore told Reuters.
    He pointed to the Inflation Reduction Act signed in August,
a $430-billion bill seen as the biggest climate package in U.S.
history, as well as a pledge by Australia earlier this month to
cut carbon emissions by 43% by 2030 and to net zero by 2050.
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    Gore said he also expected Brazil to change its policy on
climate after an impending election and China to re-establish a
dialogue with U.S. President Joe Biden at the November's G20
summit in Indonesia.
    He added that he was concerned, though, about the moves by
some countries to increase fossil fuel output in the face of the
war in Ukraine, which Russia calls a "special military
operation", that has sent oil and gas prices soaring.
    "There is no such thing as a clean fossil fuel, just as
there is no such thing as a healthy cigarette," Gore stated. "We
don't want to see investments in fossil fuel infrastructure of
the sort that A/ will not alleviate the short-term problem and
B/ will guarantee higher emission levels for decades to come."
    "There are signs absolutely everywhere around the world" of
the pace of change picking up, he noted, adding that the need to
act was also being driven by worsening weather events. 
    "Mother Nature has joined the discussion about the climate
crisis," Gore said, citing heatwaves in China, floods in
Pakistan and drought in Europe.
    Gore, U.S. vice president from 1993 to 2001, became known
for climate change advocacy with his 2006 Oscar-winning
documentary "An Inconvenient Truth", and its 2017 sequel,
arguing the climate change struggle is a moral fight.
    Co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his climate
campaigning, he is chairman of Generation Investment Management,
a London-headquartered firm focused on sustainable investments
across both public and private markets, and on research.
    Among steps being taken to speed up the energy transition,
some governments have chosen to replace existing fossil fuel
plants with decades of remaining lifetime as renewable
electricity becomes cheaper, he said, while others are looking
to ban fossil fuel-powered cars and trucks.
    "At a time when the technology (...) provides three times as
many jobs per invested dollar as investments in fossil fuels,
then all of that to me adds up to a very positive, palpable
tipping point."
    In Generation's latest annual sustainability trends report,
published on Wednesday, the company said that annual investments
in the clean economy were on track to exceed $1 trillion over
the next few years.
    While that still falls short of the levels needed to limit
global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial
average, it added that it was rising "at a brisk clip".
($1 = 1.0048 euros)

 (Reporting by Juliette Portala, editing by Simon Jessop,
William Maclean)
 ((juliette.portala@tr.com ; +48 587 696 607))