For the Sake of the Global South, It’s Time for the World to Treat Natural Gas Like the Fossil Fuel It Is

RMI argues against the use of climate finance from wealthy nations to support natural gas development in the Global South, asserting that such a move would jeopardize the 1.5°C global warming target and the goals of the Paris Agreement. The document contends that fossil gas is a poor investment for developing countries due to supply dependency, price volatility, and the risk of methane leakage.

• Providing climate funding for natural gas in the Global South would likely make it impossible to maintain the 1.5°C global warming target and would undermine the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
• Natural gas is presented as a risky choice for energy security and economic growth because 80 percent of the world depends on importing fossil fuels from a small number of countries, whereas 90 percent of people live in nations with abundant renewable energy.
• Fossil gas prices are highly volatile; in the first half of 2022, prices averaged over $30/mmBtu, which was double the average of the previous year and ten times the 2020 average.
• The production of fossil gas releases methane, which has a warming potential 86 times higher than carbon dioxide. Developing countries are particularly susceptible to increased methane leakage due to often inefficient energy systems.
• Economic evidence from the last decade, specifically the scaling of wind in Brazil and China and solar in Vietnam and India, demonstrates that fossil gas is not a sound investment for developing nations.

APA

RMI (2022). For the Sake of the Global South, It’s Time for the World to Treat Natural Gas Like the Fossil Fuel It Is. https://rmi.org/resources/time-for-the-world-to-treat-natural-gas-like-the-fossil-fuel-it-is/

Chicago

RMI. For the Sake of the Global South, It’s Time for the World to Treat Natural Gas Like the Fossil Fuel It Is. 2022. https://rmi.org/resources/time-for-the-world-to-treat-natural-gas-like-the-fossil-fuel-it-is/.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=RMI |title=For the Sake of the Global South, It’s Time for the World to Treat Natural Gas Like the Fossil Fuel It Is |date=15 November 2022 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/time-for-the-world-to-treat-natural-gas-like-the-fossil-fuel-it-is/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{rmi2022sake, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{For the Sake of the Global South, It’s Time for the World to Treat Natural Gas Like the Fossil Fuel It Is}}, publisher = {RMI}, year = {2022}, month = nov, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/time-for-the-world-to-treat-natural-gas-like-the-fossil-fuel-it-is/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }