Iraq’s finance minister, one of the founding members of the oil exporters (OPEC), Allawi, on the eve of the key meeting of OPEC + appealed to other oil producers with an unprecedented appeal to abandon fossil fuels and go to renewable energy sources, reports Guardian.
Allawi, also holding the position of deputy Prime Minister Iraq, called oil exporting countries to conduct “economic update with emphasis on environmentally friendly technologies”, the main of which will be solar energy and possibly nuclear reactors. The official considered it important to reduce the country’s dependence on the export of fossil fuels.
He suggested that the current variability of oil caused by pandemic is just the beginning of problems for oil producers. In addition, the climate crisis is increasingly beating through the Middle East and North Africa, where the temperature rise causes serious problems. And one refusal of oil is not enough to prevent the effects of climate change.
Iraq is one of the founding countries of OPEC. The organization includes the largest oil producers in the world, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Nigeria and several other African oil-producing states. In OPEC + included Russia and several smaller manufacturers. Most of them are reluctant or even hostile to appeal to countering climate change. Saudi Arabia, in particular, often impedes the UN negotiations on global actions in climate change.
In mid-August with a call to OPEC +, the United States was made to increase oil production. They explained their initiative to reduce prices for consumers.