EU General Statement – UN General Assembly 2nd Committee: Energy for all

Madam Chair, I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, and the potential candidate countries Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia align themselves with this statement.

While we would have liked a more ambitious outcome, the EU and its Member States are joining consensus today on the Energy Resolution. We would like to thank the facilitator as well as all involved for their constructive engagement.

The world is in the midst of a major global energy crisis, caused to a large extent by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, with countries worldwide experiencing record high and volatile energy prices. The energy crisis has devastating impacts on people, industries and economies – most severely in the developing world, where hard-fought progress to achieve access to affordable, reliable and modern energy is being reversed. This is deeply concerning, as access to energy is essential to achieving the 2030 Agenda, especially the goals of poverty eradication, but also health services, educational outcomes and economic growth.

The energy crisis also threatens to further derail our shared critical task to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions at the pace that is needed to avoid climate catastrophe. During the negotiations on this resolution, arguments have been made that energy and climate are unrelated issues. Yet the energy sector is by far the biggest source of global greenhouse gas emissions. The EU and its Member States are deeply concerned that the Energy Resolution does not adequately reflect the indisputable link between energy and climate.

We will not achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement without a full transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy. This includes the gradual phase out of natural gas. To meet the 1.5C degree temperature limit, global gas production needs to shrink 3 percent annually by 2030. The good news is that renewables are cheaper than newly built fossil fuel-fired options. Every dollar invested in renewables creates three times more jobs than if invested in the fossil fuel industry. The current energy crisis is a fossil fuel crisis. A faster energy transition towards renewables would reduce vulnerability to energy price shocks, improve security of energy supply and make countries more resilient to external political pressure.

The EU and its Member States therefore regret that its proposals regarding renewable energy were not taken on-board. We regret that the resolution contains a paragraph on natural gas, which neither includes language on the need to align the temporary use of natural gas with a 1.5 degree pathway, nor recognizes the need to eventually phase out natural gas entirely. Natural gas can only, if at all, be used as a transition fuel for a limited period of time,  within the limits of a 1.5C degree pathway and only if it leads to significant emission reductions to accommodate a larger renewable energy scale-up, while avoiding ‘carbon-lock-ins’. We also regret that the text does not include the agreed language from the Glasgow Climate Pact that calls for accelerating efforts towards the phasedown of unabated coal power.

The Energy Resolution goes below the level of ambition in other internationally agreed language. We therefore emphasize that this resolution cannot be seen as a precedent for other international agreements.

The EU and its Member States remain firmly committed to ending all direct international public financing of fossil fuels by the end of 2022, except for in time-limited, clearly defined circumstances that are consistent with a 1.5 degree pathway and the goals of the Paris Agreement.

As the Secretary-General has stated: “Fossil fuels are a dead end – for our planet, for humanity, and yes, for economies.” The rapid transition to renewables and the reduction of energy consumption through energy efficiency improvements are the only pathway to energy security, universal energy access and effectively combating climate change to limit the increase in the global average temperature to 1.5C degrees above pre-industrial levels.

The EU and its Member States look forward to working with all countries and all stakeholders to ensure that the decarbonisation of all sectors is accelerated and universal energy access is achieved in order to reach the 2030 Agenda and of our common climate goals.

Thank you.