UNIS/SGSM/1377
24 January 2024
Clean energy is the gift that keeps giving:
It can purify polluted air;
Meet growing energy demand;
Secure supplies;
And connect billion of people to affordable power – helping to ensure electricity access to all by 2030.
That is all while saving money and saving the planet.
A fair, just, equitable, and urgent transition from dirty fossil fuels to clean energy is essential to avoid the worst of climate chaos and spur sustainable development.
So, I celebrate this first International Day of Clean Energy;
I applaud the work of the International Renewable Energy Agency;
And I welcome the call made by countries at COP28 to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030.
It is my firm belief that fossil fuel phase out is not only necessary, it is inevitable.
But we need governments to act, to accelerate the transition, with the biggest emitters leading the way.
That means unleashing a surge in climate finance – particularly, governments reforming the business model of multilateral development banks so that affordable finance flows.
It means countries creating new national climate plans by 2025 that map a fair and just transition to clean power.
And it means governments closing the door on the fossil fuel era – with justice and equity.
Our clean energy future is unstoppable.
Together, let’s bring it into being faster.
Thank you.
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"Working as one, we must push to repeal discriminatory laws, combat violence and harmful practices, and end the scapegoating of marginalized communities." — António Guterres
"From the telegraph to radio, from the Internet to Artificial Intelligence, technology has transformed how we live, work, and connect." — António Guterres
Barbados signed and deposited its instrument of ratification for the United Nations Convention on the International Effects of Judicial Sales of Ships (the “Beijing Convention on the Judicial Sale of Ships”) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 8 May 2025.
Journalists are invited to cover the 34th session of the Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) to be held from 19 to 23 May in Vienna, Austria.
