The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Monday called on the United States and China to put aside “tensions” and present a united front in the fight against climate change, warning in an interview with AFP on Monday that geopolitical differences could hold back the transition to clean energy.

wind energyPhoto: HotNews.ro/Claudia Pirvoiu

Speaking on the sidelines of the African Climate Summit in Nairobi, Fatih Birol said international divisions, caused in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, “are becoming more visible.”

“I really hope that at the next COP28, the United States and China, the biggest emitters (of greenhouse gases), will put aside their geopolitical and economic tensions,” he said.

“When I look at the future of energy and climate, it seems to me that the best and most optimistic agenda is to put (the issue of) clean energy at the center,” the IEA president added, urging the two countries to “come.” together’ to make progress on climate change.

In his opinion, the world is moving too slowly to meet the goals for limiting global warming agreed by the international community in Paris in 2015.

More broadly, he said, international differences fueled, in particular, by the conflict in Ukraine, “are becoming more and more pronounced.”

These differences “cast great doubt” on the future, as “international cooperation between the main actors will become much more difficult,” he noted.

The next UN climate conference (COP28), due to be held in late November-early December in Dubai, is likely to lead to heated confrontations on energy issues, both geopolitical and economic, in order to find common solutions. on key questions.

A climate summit in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates in November is likely to be dominated by differing views on energy.

For Birol, global tensions “completely” hinder progress in the transition to clean energy. He warned of a “sharp reaction” from individual countries and companies, without naming them.

But he added that despite this shift, more than 80 percent of the power plants built last year around the world focused on renewable energy sources.