Climate change poses greater threat to global energy security: WMO

To minimize risks to energy security and avoid the worst impacts of climate change, the world must strive to reach net zero by 2050.

Approximately 26% of existing hydropower dams and 23% of projected dams are within river basins that currently have a medium to very high risk of water scarcity.

Geneva: Energy infrastructure will become more vulnerable to extreme weather such as heatwaves and hurricanes, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) warned, with a senior official saying that climate change poses as big a threat to global energy security as the war in Ukraine.

“I think that if we don’t do anything, if we don’t make our energy system more resilient to climate change, there will be as big a disruption in the energy system as the war,” Roberta Boscolo, WMO climate and energy lead said as the UN agency launched a major report “2022 State of Climate Services – Energy.”

According to a new multi-agency report from the World Meteorological Organization, the supply of electricity from clean energy sources must double within the next eight years to limit global temperature increase.

It added that otherwise, there is a risk that climate change, more extreme weather and water stress will undermine our energy security and even jeopardize renewable energy supplies.

The report said, the changes in climate pose significant risks to the energy sector, directly affecting fuel supply, energy production, physical resilience of current and future energy infrastructure, and energy demand.

“Approximately 26% of existing hydropower dams and 23% of projected dams are within river basins that currently have a medium to very high risk of water scarcity” it said.

The report mentioned that in 2020, 87% of global electricity generated from thermal, nuclear and hydroelectric systems directly depended on water availability, adding that heatwaves and droughts associated with anthropogenic climate change are already putting existing energy generation under stress.

Highliting the impact of these risks the report said, energy security is a low priority for adaptation in many countries, saying just 40% of countries prioritize adaptation in the energy sector.

“Therefore, to minimize risks to energy security and avoid the worst impacts of climate change, the world must strive to reach net zero” it added.

Current pledges made by countries fall well short of what is needed to meet the objectives set by the Paris Agreement – leaving a 70% gap in the amount of emissions reductions needed by 2030.

To meet the challenges, Roberta Boscolo said “huge” investment was needed to prepare for and adapt to that scenario, such as retrofitting dams to match new rainfall patterns and shoring up plants against storm surge. A WMO document showed that more than a third of all nuclear plants are found at sea level and said some will be threatened as they rise.

Overall, the WMO said in its report that countries are behind in their renewable power pledges, saying they have so far committed to building less than half of the capacity needed by 2030 to reach the Paris accord goals.

However, the WMO secretary-general Petteri Taalas said the energy sector is the source of around three-quarters of global greenhouse gas emissions. Switching to clean forms of energy generation, such as solar, wind and hydropower – and improving energy efficiency – is vital if we are to thrive in the twenty-first century.

“Net zero by 2050 is the aim. But we will only get there if we double the supply of low-emissions electricity within the next eight years,” said Taalas

Taalas also said that he expects the Ukraine war to accelerate the transition to renewables, despite greater short-term reliance on fossil fuels such as coal.

“It’s speeding up this green transition,” Petteri Taalas said at an earlier press conference. “From a climate perspective, the war in Ukraine may be seen as a blessing.”

Taalas said countries should also consider making “certain compromises” to meet global emissions targets such as embracing nuclear power despite misgivings about waste.

“As the climate changes, the energy transition will require the information flow from weather and climate data and forecasts to be properly incorporated into decision support systems” the report said.