The Road to Glasgow & the Imperative for a Green Energy Transition

As the world moves toward containing Covid-19, we face a tangle of problems. How do we together recover from the pandemic-triggered financial crisis while tackling the menace of climate change and simultaneously putting equity first to close the growing and dangerous gap between wealthy and poor nations and peoples?

In this quarter’s Matter of Impact, we dive deeply into these questions while previewing some of the dialogs that will be part of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow from Oct. 31-Nov. 12. Cost was once a central argument against transitioning to green energy from fossil fuels. But as our Foundation President Raj Shah notes this is no longer true. In most parts of the world, renewable energy is now cheaper than the alternative, and the transition can create 25 million new energy jobs and half a billion new jobs in other sectors. Young global leaders at the forefront of the clean energy movement, speaking compellingly on our latest RF Breakthrough, make it clear: this is the moment for creating innovative investments and powerful partnerships. Together, we must spur the green energy transition—for the sake of dairy farmers in Nigeria, fishermen in Uganda, smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, and underserved communities from Louisiana to rural India. The turn toward affordable renewable energy has the power to create jobs, transform lives, and make opportunity universal.