Your Excellences,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is with profound admiration that I extend my congratulations to the United Arab Emirates, a key member of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, for their exemplary hosting of COP28.
Natural gas, the cleanest of hydrocarbons, currently fulfills 23% of the world’s primary energy needs. It plays a crucial role in driving the economy, enhancing living standards, reducing household pollution, improving air quality in megacities, and addressing climate change.
Natural gas is an indispensable ally for renewables, providing the necessary flexibility to ensure a steady electricity supply, especially when renewable sources are intermittent or when drought restricts hydropower production.
Moreover, natural gas is essential for global food security, being the main feedstock in nitrogen-based fertilisers production. It also leads the transition to the hydrogen economy, offering a pathway to reduce emissions in hard-to-abate sectors. Key to enhancing the environmental profile of natural gas are efforts to enhance operational and energy efficiency, reduce gas flaring and methane emissions, and upscale carbon capture, utilization, and storage technology.
As the world's population grows, the economy expands, and human living conditions improve, the world will need more natural gas, not less. Our member countries are committed to harnessing natural gas resources and deploying cleaner technologies efficiently and responsibly, responding to world's growing energy needs.
COP28 should facilitate financing for natural gas projects and the scaling-up of cleaner technologies, such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage. This is crucial for a just, inclusive, and orderly energy transitions that satisfy the need for sustainable development, energy security, and energy affordability.
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