Ukraine war may be a blessing for green energy transition: WMO

The head of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Tuesday that he expects the Ukraine war to accelerate the transition to renewable energy, despite greater short-term reliance on fossil fuels such as coal.

"It's clear that this war in Ukraine will speed up our consumption of fossil energy and it's (also) speeding up this green transition," said Petteri Taalas, WMO secretary-general, as the organisation presented a major report on energy.

"From a climate perspective, the war in Ukraine may be seen as a blessing," he added. The WMO said in its report that countries are behind in their renewable power pledges, saying they have so far committed to build less than half of the capacity needed by 2030 to reach the Paris accord goals.