Guterres urges global leaders to accelerate just energy transition at Belém Climate Summit

 

By Dr. Shafqat Munir Ahmad

 

November 7, 2025

 

The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent global action to end the fossil fuel era “fairly, fast, and finally,” as he addressed world leaders at the Belém Climate Summit’s Energy Transition Roundtable on Friday.

 

Highlighting what he described as a global energy revolution already underway, Guterres noted that 90 percent of new power capacity added last year came from renewable sources, while investment in clean energy reached a record $2 trillion, $800 billion more than fossil fuels.

 

“Renewables are now the cheapest source of new electricity in nearly every country,” he said. “They are powering prosperity and empowering communities long left in the dark.”

 

However, the UN chief warned that despite significant progress, the world remains off track to meet the targets agreed at COP28, where countries pledged to transition away from fossil fuels “in a just, orderly and equitable manner” and to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030.

 

“Even if all current national commitments are fully implemented, we are heading for more than two degrees of warming,” he cautioned. “That means more floods, more heat, more suffering everywhere.”

 

Guterres stressed that overshooting the 1.5°C temperature threshold is now “inevitable” by the early 2030s, but said that the extent and duration of that overshoot depend on how rapidly nations act today. To restore climate stability, he urged that global emissions be cut nearly in half by 2030, reach net zero by 2050, and move to net negative thereafter.

 

Outlining a five-point agenda for accelerating the transition, Guterres called on governments to:

 

1. Align laws and policies with a just energy transition and eliminate fossil fuel subsidies that “distort markets and lock us into the past.”

2. Put people and equity at the centre, supporting workers and communities dependent on fossil fuels, and creating opportunities for youth and women.

3. Invest in grids, storage, and energy efficiency to keep pace with renewable growth.

4. Ensure all new power demand, including for AI-driven data centres, is met with clean energy.

5. Unlock large-scale finance for developing countries, particularly in Africa, which currently receives just 2 percent of global clean energy investment.

 

“The fossil fuel age is ending. Clean energy is rising,” Guterres declared. “We must support developing countries through stronger cooperation, investment, and technology transfer calibrated to their capacities and needs.”

 

He urged leaders to act with “speed and solidarity,” making fairness the driving force of the energy transition.

 

“Let us turn climate necessity into development opportunity everywhere,” he concluded. “Let us make the transition fair, fast, and final.”