UN General Antonia Gutteres, after his meeting with civil society climate leaders across the globe highlighted the importance of phasing out fossil fuels and boosting investment in renewable energy as this would help in sorting out the current climate crisis.        

He also cited the ‘special responsibility’ of the fossil fuel industries to prevent the sky from greying by making a strong statement, “Trading the future for 30 pieces of silver is immoral.”  

He called for fossil fuel companies to present credible, comprehensive and detailed new transition plans that include reducing emissions “up and down the value chain” – from production to refining, distribution and use. He also added that it’s obnoxious if the companies shouldn’t use their influences to ‘knee cap’ the progress of this process.          

The UN chief also called for detailed plans from financial institutions, saying they must encourage the global energy transformation.        

Plans should include an explicit strategy to progressively strip out fossil fuel assets from their portfolios to ensure alignment with the net-zero goal. All lobbying and policy engagement also should be disclosed.