YURY SENTYURIN, secretary general, Gas Exporting Countries Forum
With such significant events as the G20 Environment, Climate and Energy Ministerial Meeting, the first ever UN High-Level Dialogue on Energy and the two-years-long awaited UNFCCC COP26 in Glasgow, UK next month, 2021 has been dubbed as a year that will "make it or break it" on climate action.
Coming on the back of the "lost year" of 2020, which will not only be remembered for the most devastating pandemic in modern history, but also as the hottest year in recorded history, it is no wonder that the fight against climate change has reached a palpable frenzy.
Today, the percentage of countries that consume more resources than their ecosystems can regenerate is as high as 74 per cent. In contrast, 789 million people are living without access to electricity and hundreds of millions more lack access to clean cooking fuel.
These stark realities diminish the progress made on sustainable development goals (SDG), and certainly the SDG7 of “affordable and clean energy”. They also highlight why the world needs to go ahead and assume its responsibility to provide access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. There are lives at stake.
To compound the challenges further, just as the wheels of the global economy were whirring to a much anticipated start after a painful wait of 18 months, unprecedented high gas prices are now fomenting concern from Europe to Asia and elsewhere with the winter season looming large in the northern hemisphere.
These recent developments, which sadly affect the entire strata of society still reeling from the devastation caused by covid19, validate the long-held position of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) on a balanced approach to managing the energy transition.
The forum, an intergovernmental coalition of 18 countries that represent the largest share of proven natural gas resources, production and trade in the world, has formally registered its efforts to the international pursuit of attaining the UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030, eradicate energy poverty, and provide uninterrupted access to modern energy sources, especially for the most vulnerable communities, most recently through its statement to the UN High-Level Dialogue on Energy.
Our forum has reserved its most exceptional efforts to analyse, assess, and evaluate the different pathways in the energy transition context. We believe that technology will have a significant role in decarbonising the entire energy sector.
Based on available science and recognised research, the GECF advocates the environmentally friendly credentials of natural gas, which is an efficient pathway to achieve immediate carbon emissions reduction by substituting the more carbon-intensive fuels. This positive effect has already been demonstrated in several major economies, which have reduced their carbon intensity by improving the penetration of natural gas.
Currently, the gas industry is envisioning a deep decarbonisation of natural gas, including th
