Climate breakthrough as fossil fuels 'run out of road' - UN chief

The world is on the brink of a breakthrough in the climate fight and fossil fuels are running out of road, the UN chief said yesterday, as he urged countries to funnel support into low-carbon energy.

- Fiona Harvey

More than nine in 10 renewable power projects globally are now cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives. Solar power is about 41% cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternative, and onshore wind generation is less than half the price of fossil fuels, according to a report from the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena).

Costs have been driven down by the increasingly widespread use of the technologies, a huge focus on low-carbon manufacturing in China, and burgeoning investment in the sector, reaching $2tn last year - which was $800bn more than went into fossil fuels, and an increase of 70% in the last decade.

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said: "We are on the cusp of a new era. Fossil fuels are running out of road. The sun is rising on a clean energy age."

Guterres said countries seeking energy security against geopolitical threats and lower costs for consumers amid a global cost-of-living crisis must choose renewables. "The greatest threat to energy security today is fossil fuels. They leave economies and people at the mercy of price shocks, supply disruptions and geopolitical turmoil," he said. "There are no price spikes for sunlight, no embargoes on wind."