Countries scrambling to replace Russian oil, gas and coal supplies with any available alternative may fuel the world's "mutually assured destruction" through climate change, the head of the United Nations warned Monday.
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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the 'all-of-the-above' strategy now being pursued by major economies to end fossil fuel imports from Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine could kill hopes of keeping global warming below dangerous levels.
"Countries could become so consumed by the immediate fossil fuel supply gap that they neglect or knee-cap policies to cut fossil fuel use," he said by video at an event organized by the Economist weekly. "This is madness. Addiction to fossil fuels is mutually assured destruction."
Guterres said that "instead of hitting the brakes on the decarbonization of the global economy, now is the time to put the pedal to the metal towards a renewable energy future."
His comments came as scientists on the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change began a two-week meeting to finalize their latest report about the world's efforts to curb emissions of planet-heating greenhouse gases.
