Recent 6% Increase in Greenhouse Gas Emissions
[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] John Kerry, the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, stated that efforts to address climate change should not regress under the pretext of the Ukraine war.
On the 24th (local time), according to foreign media including CNN, Kerry spoke as a speaker at the World Economic Forum (WEF) held in Davos, Switzerland, warning that the Ukraine war has led the West to move away from dependence on Russian energy and turn to building fossil fuel infrastructure, which could result in long-term fossil fuel use.
He said, "The Ukraine crisis should not be used as an excuse to build outdated infrastructure such as coal power plants and gas drilling," urging that now is the time to continue efforts to resolve the climate crisis.
He pointed out that recently greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 6%, and coal use, which emits a large amount of pollutants, has risen by 9%, emphasizing that "there is no room to backtrack on efforts to address climate change."
In a subsequent panel discussion, he criticized Europe's discussions on developing gas fields and other measures to find energy sources to replace Russian supplies, stating, "(To secure alternative energy) large-scale new infrastructure is not necessarily required."
He added that the world has the fundamental technology to achieve climate goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 45% during this decade, saying, "If the new belief becomes that 'we must build large-scale gas facilities' without considering gas reduction and mitigation, we will not be able to achieve that goal."
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