"Our planet cannot be saved unless we leave fossil fuels in the ground where they belong," said Leonardo DiCaprio at the signing ceremonu of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016.
The tendency of the total refusal to use fossil fuels came into widespread acceptance this summer. However, the process began earlier.
As early as December 12, 2017, at the Climate Summit in Paris, the World Bank announced that from 2019 it would stop investing not only in the coal and oil industries, but also in gas production. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), investments in companies associated with the extraction and processing of fossil fuels will depreciate by $ 300 billion by 2035.
According to The Guardian publication on July 13, 2018, Ireland was the first country to declare full abandonment of investments in the extraction of fossil fuels. It is also planned that by 2030 the country will refuse to sell diesel and gasoline cars.
According to experts, up to date the amount of burned fossil far exceeds all possible standards. Whereas to meet the key condition of the Paris Agreement – to keep the rise of temperature at the level significantly below 2°C - it is necessary to completely abandon it.
As the author of the Irish bill Gerry Liston said: "Governments will not be able to fulfill their obligations under the Paris Agreement if they continue to support the fossil fuel industry. All countries of the world should follow the lead of Ireland and start to give up fossil fuels".
In addition to Ireland, at the end of June this year a draft of new climate legislation was submitted in the Netherlands. It is important to note that if it is approved, it will become one of the most stringent in the World in the field of climate policy. Concerning energy, it is planned that by 2050 the country will become absolutely carbon neutral.
Interesting, that even the oil companies began to adapt their business models. Thus, the World's largest Vitol Group company said that it is planning to invest about 200 million euros in wind farms.
Unfortunately, the process of abandoning fossil fuels is uneven. To date there is still no prerequisite for a full-fledged abandonment of fossil fuels in Central Asia. The fact is that for many years fossil fuels have been one of the main driving forces of the economy in this region.
For example, as Kazakhstan's Minister of Energy Kanat Bozumbayev notes: "Total reserves of primary energy resources of Kazakhstan, including oil, gas, coal, uranium are estimated at about 32 billion tons of oil equivalent, which is about 4% of the World's energy resources. The Republic is on the 12th place in terms of hydrocarbon reserves. In addition, about 75% of Kazakhstan's needs are still met by the coal industry". According to various estimates, the amount of coal that is contained in Kazakhstan subsoil is enough for another 300-500 years.
Based on this, governments play a very important role in the transition to a "green" economy. The transition to a new energy model should be carried out systematically and with minimal risk for the poor, most vulnerable to this kind of change segment of people.
One of the main conditions for the transition to a low-carbon economy is to redirect investments from the fossil fuel sector to the development of renewable energy sources. Unfortunately, with the exception of hydroelectric power plants, the share of alternative energy sources in Central Asia today still varies from 1% in Kazakhstan to 3% in Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
Nevertheless, the region has still a huge potential for the development of "green" energy. According to the UNDP, there are significant opportunities for the development of wind and solar energy in Kazakhstan, solar energy and biogas - in Uzbekistan, small hydroelectric power plants - in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, and solar energy - in Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. Recently it was announced that a new power station will be built in Kazakhstan, $ 60 million will be invested in that. By the end of 2018, it is planned to put into operation the Tuyaguguzskaya HPS in Uzbekistan.
In addition, as the representative of the Tajik organization «Little Earth» Timur Idridov notes, batteries and energy storage systems will also be a significant help in the transition to a new energy model. According to Jim Robo, the Head of NextEra Energy Inc., very soon fossil fuel power plants will not be able to compete with the same power plants equipped with batteries.
However, of course, the transition to a new energy model cannot be implemented overnight. But it is important to understand that it is necessary to begin to act today. And if western countries have already begun to declare the complete abandonment of fossil fuels, then we need to begin to follow their example more actively.
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Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for the Aral Sea Basin (CAMP4ASB)
