Simon Stiell. Photo by the Global Environment Facility via Flickr under CC 2.0
Simon Stiell highlighted that continuing reliance on fossil fuels is undermining peace and stability and that countries must accelerate efforts to switch to renewables, in a speech to the UN General Assembly
Countries need to come together to accelerate the global energy transition and end the world’s “addiction” to fossil fuels, UN climate chief Simon Stiell has said.
During the UN’s Accelerating the Global Energy Transition: Advancing Renewables and Mobilizing Investment dialogue in New York on 24 July, Stiell said climate change is increasing conflict and driving up food and energy prices – and that the move to renewables would help boost national security and resilience.
“A world addicted to coal, oil and gas is a world of economic uncertainty, unnecessary costs, and conflict… And while we keep burning fossil fuels, our planet will keep heating, undermining peace and stability,” he said.
Stiell said events in 2026 had made clear the need for clean energy and demonstrated its benefits.
“Conflict has taken an appalling human toll and choked global energy markets, pushing up prices for billions of people,” he said, emphasising that renewables “frontrunners” like Spain and Pakistan had been shielded from some of the worst effects of the fossil fuel cost crisis, “demonstrating that clean energy is secure energy”.
He added that conflict, economic downturns and climate-related shocks had “dealt a triple blow to food security”, leading to higher food prices around the world and the most vulnerable in society to “stare down the barrel… of desperate hunger”.
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Governments ‘increasingly viewing climate as security issue’
Stiell said it was “no wonder” that governments increasingly view climate as a security issue, and that it was “imperative” to protect people, livelihoods and economies from “escalating climate disasters” by building resilience and accelerating the energy transition.
“Renewables are cheaper, more accessible, and faster to market. They can fortify the foundations of peace, boosting sustainable development – the best conflict prevention tool we have – while reducing emissions and supercharging economies.”
He stressed that the energy transition must “meet the demands of science”, and be faster and fairer so that “every nation benefits”, and that countries and communities historically dependent on fossil fuel revenues are supported.
He also noted that renewables, electrification and efficiency must be “progressed together in countries and industries”, and gave the example of UN secretary-general António Guterres’ call for major AI companies to power every data centre with renewables by 2030.
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Global climate cooperation, and COP31 electrification target
Stiell drew attention to some of the goals countries had committed to at previous COP summits, including to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels, and triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030.
He said regional and global climate cooperation was key to delivering these and would involve “cross-border connections, power pools, and common standards”, as well as the convening power of the UN, which he said is “increasingly focused on supporting implementation”.
He also noted that Turkey, which is hosting this year’s COP in November, had announced its ‘action agenda’ targets, including the goal for global electrification to account for 35% of energy consumption by 2035.
“Electrification is a golden ticket to more prosperity and stability,” Stiell said.
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Financing the energy transition
In his speech, Stiell also covered financing, noting that finance is “essential” for countries “to bank the vast benefits” of the energy transition and to build resilience.
He called on developed countries to honour their commitments to triple adaptation finance and deliver US$300bn per year by 2035, as part of aims to scale up to US$1.3 trillion a year.
He said multilateral development banks are “ideally placed to help” and must “step up” to help facilitate this, including through the offer of credit enhancement and guarantees which “deliver serious bang for buck in crowding in private capital, particularly in developing countries where perceived risk increases costs”.
Stiell added that countries need systemic support – not just project-by-project financing – including to strengthen grids, improve policies and regulation, and “build a pipeline of bankable projects”.
He concluded: “As the realities of fossil fuel dependency play out in real-time, it is increasingly clear: that faster energy transitions are core business for governments and core to national security strategies; that doubling-down on renewables and resilience is in every country’s interests; and that action now is the basis of long-term peace and security around the world.”
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