OpeOluwani Akintayo
Lagos — The Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC has listed technological innovation as one of the solutions to the nagging global climate change.
The group’s Secretary-General, Mohammed Barkindo made this known while delivering his speech at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP 25/CMP 15/CMA 2 in Madrid, Spain.
According to him, technological innovation, including carbon capture and sequestration technologies, CCUS, enhanced investment for energy access and improved energy efficiency must be part of the solution, adding that the oil industry is committed to all of these.
He advised that nobody should be left behind by the energy transition, saying that the United Nations’ SDG 7 ensures access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all – not for just some.
“At OPEC, we listen extensively to the scientists. We wholeheartedly support the Paris Agreement and the ethos of multilateralism that underpins it. The core elements of the Convention, particularly historical responsibility and national circumstances must be adhered to”.
“We recognize the complexity and magnitude of climate change we are living in our countries. There is no panacea for global warming. All viable mitigation and adaptation measures are necessary”.
He said the oil industry must be part of the solution to the impacts of climate change.
“We reject the misleading narrative of an energy transition from one source to another”.
He prescribed a holistic solution to the energy transition move, inclusive of “fair and equitability in accordance with the core UNFCCC principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities”.
Barkindo stated that the almost one billion people worldwide who currently lack access to electricity and the three billion without modern fuels for cooking are not just statistics on a page. “They are real people. Each one is an individual”, he said.
He explained that fuel poverty is not an abstract concept; rather it is a profound challenge for sustainable development.
“It is an all-too brutal reality for hungry families living in the cold or dark, for the millions of children currently attending schools without power, and for many hospitals without reliable energy”.
