CNBC was informed by the head of United Nations Development Programme that $423 billion is spent annually on subsidies for fossil fuels. This is keeping us from moving to cleaner energy. 

Achim Steiner from UNDP, the Administrator of the UNDP, stated that while we have all the resources to address climate change but are not making the right decisions, it was a worrying time in history.

The new UNDP campaign against fossil fuel subsidies sees a dinosaur, voiced by global stars in various languages including Jack Black, Eiza Gonzalez, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Aïssa Maïga, addressing the United Nations in New York, urging the world not to make choices that could lead them to follow dinosaurs into extinction.

Steiner explained that while there’s humor and adventure within, the goal is to communicate a crucial message to an audience.

“It is intended to interest both young and old people. It is also meant to appeal to people who believe they don’t have anything to do with it, but are still part of the fossil fuel economy, which is putting us at risk of catastrophic climate change.” he said.

Steiner stated that $423 billion per year spent on fossil fuel subsidies was not an efficient use of taxpayers’ money. Steiner said that subsidies are sometimes justified in order to make energy more affordable for the poorer.

Steiner stated that the stats show that the program actually has the benefit of being a boon for the wealthy because of their higher energy consumption.

He said, “So, if your goal is to help poorer people have access to energy and fuel, then there are many more efficient methods of doing so. You don’t have to destabilize an entire economy by artificially making fossil fuels cheaper to use.”

Recent U.N. reports found that the governments were well on their way to meeting this goal. produce more than twice the levels of fossil fuels in 2030More than is needed to maintain rising temperatures below 1.5 degrees Celsius (pre-industrial level).

Steiner said to CNBC that when asked how to reverse this trend, he stated that “many economists agree” that setting a carbon price would reflect the real cost of fossil fuels in today’s economies. This would create an environment where both producers and users of fossil fuels would be forced out.

In fact, the energy revolution has already begun when we examine the global energy market. “In the last few years there has been more investment in new renewable energy infrastructure than any other commodity, including oil, natural gas, coal and nuclear together,” he said.

Steiner stated that he was “very concerned” about the slow pace at which we move.

The tragedy is that this means that my kids, the next generation will not have that option. It will have reached the point of no return. It will take 100 to 200 years for us to reverse this once we have taken a path above 1.5 and 2 degrees.

He added, “And this is in essence the historical moment where we find ourselves when, basically having all the necessary means to address climate change, but not feeling it in ourselves to take any of the required decisions,”