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Dear friends,
There’s no doubt that COP26 was a turning point in the campaign for a Fossil Fuel Treaty.
Over recent weeks millions of people heard about the Treaty proposal for the first time, with more than 500 media articles mentioning our initiative and Tzeporah Berman’s Treaty TED Talk which has been watched by close to 1 million people. Elected officials, Fridays for Future activists and over 1,000 civil society organisations called for international cooperation under a new fossil fuel focussed treaty in Glasgow. And most importantly, our network met with dozens of governments and are now exploring political pathways towards formal negotiations on a Treaty to phase out fossil fuels.
At the same time, COP26 failed to effectively address the expansion of fossil fuel production. While many governments and companies used the summit to frame themselves as ‘climate champions’, they continue to open new oil and gas fields and coal mines.
However, the conversation globally on fossil fuels has shifted rapidly. A few things are now crystal clear:
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The Paris Agreement alone cannot manage a just transition
For over 26 years, international climate negotiations have focussed on reducing emissions – but explicitly have not addressed reducing the production of the primary source of those emissions: fossil fuels. In fact the Paris Agreement does not even mention the words ‘coal’, ‘oil’, ‘gas’ or ‘fossil fuels’ once.
In Glasgow, for the first time since the original UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was negotiated in 1992, fossil fuels were finally referenced in the COP26 outcome text. This was an important step and a testament to campaigners' efforts across the world. However, oil and gas were never included, even in a draft and the text on coal and subsidies was watered down four times – with big producers introducing multiple loopholes. ‘Phase out coal’ was changed to ‘phase down unabated coal power’, creating a window for expanding coal production with unproven technology like carbon capture and storage. Then ending ‘fossil fuel subsidies’ was also later limited to ‘inefficient fossil fuel subsidies’ despite there being no clarity on the definition of what could possibly make a subsidy of the fuels heating our world ¨efficient”.
This allowed wealthy nations like the US and UK to claim they are climate leaders while just days later President Joe Biden opened the largest oil and gas lease sale in U.S. history and Prime Minister Boris Johnson continued to refuse to rule out the controversial Cambo oilfield. Furthermore, despite their lack of commitment to phasing out fossil fuels these wealthy countries were quick to point the finger at India, hypocritically blaming them for delaying action.
This only serves to highlight the limitations of the Paris Agreement to provide the international governing framework needed to phase out fossil fuels equitably. The current climate regime, influenced significantly by wealthy nations, has allowed for continued expansion of fossil fuels, a lack of transparency of production plans and insufficient spaces to ensure the transition is not only fast but also fair and equitable.
The negotiation process itself is being weakened – once a space for legally binding commitments, the advent of Nationally Determined Contributions in the Paris Agreement shifted the focus to pledges, has now shifted to a summit dominated by mainly press releases in Glasgow. We need a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to move us from negotiations on “offsets” and “Net Zero” to one where the driving cause of the crisis, the fossil fuel industry, is up for debate and where we can plan for a fast and fair transition globally.
It took twenty six international conferences to get to this point, and it’s clear that COP27 will not manage a global transition away from fossil fuels on its own. This process must be complemented by a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
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Fossil fuels are now a focus of international attention
While we are definitely not yet where we need to be, things are shifting rapidly when it comes to fossil fuels. For decades, fossil fuels were the elephant in the room, intentionally ignored by policymakers and rarely discussed in the press. Over recent weeks, this changed.
While the formal process failed to tackle fossil fuels adequately, they were finally a major topic of conversations at the COP – discussed daily in the global media, a major focus for movements inside and outside the negotiations, the dominant topic of the final plenary and mentioned (albeit very insufficiently) in the text. The social license of the industry also diminishes every day – in recent years having lobbyists in attendance was a given at COP, now it causes global outrage thanks to our partners at Global Witness.
There is much to be done to build on this momentum, but the global norms on fossil fuels are beginning to shift. The proposal for an international mechanism to manage fossil fuels is gaining momentum daily, and we are now looking at polticial and legal pathways towards a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
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The first stepping stone to a broader fossil fuel regime launched?
Another major development at COP26 was the launch of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA) – the world’s first diplomatic initiative focused on keeping oil and gas in the ground. Launched by Costa Rica and Denmark, the effort brings together countries and subnational jurisdictions that have committed to ending new licensing rounds for oil and gas exploration and production, or have taken steps towards that goal, and recognize that phasing out fossil fuel extraction is an urgent and crucial component of tackling the climate crisis.
This is a welcome and critical initiative, and a result from years of hard work from many partners including Oil Change International and the Global Gas and Oil Network. We urge other countries to join this ground-breaking coalition to stop the expansion of fossil fuels. The launch of BOGA marks a departure from decades of international climate policy in which the question of aligning the production of fossil fuels with carbon budgets was ignored.
BOGA is an important first step towards aligning production with Paris goals and ensuring domestic actions, especially by the wealthy nations that need to act first. The Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative will work in the coming months to coordinate with BOGA and build on their work to identify mechanisms necessary for international cooperation to ensure the wind down of all fossil fuels - including coal - that is fast and fair.
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The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty gains significant momentum
It was a huge few weeks specifically for the proposal for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. With five press conferences and eight major events (plus our team and partners speaking at many more) during the two-week summit, our network was incredibly busy. Here are a few specific highlights:
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150+ legislators release call for a fossil fuel free future
On the second Wednesday of COP26 a group of parliamentarians from over 30 countries release the Parliamentarians Call for a Fossil Fuel Free Future. Initiated by 20 MPs from the Global South, their demands call for the pillars of the proposed Treaty and are gaining support in Parliaments around the world. Please promote the initiative to your representatives.
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Download our diplomatic engagement briefings
Members of the Fossil Fuel Treaty network met with dozens of government delegations in Glasgow, briefing them on the Treaty proposal and beginning to build diplomatic support around the world. They cover the Treaty proposal generally, potential political pathways to a Treaty and a backgrounder on the Global Registry of Fossil Fuels.
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Fridays for Future call for a Fossil Fuel Treaty
The next day, as reported by CNN, during the climate talks Fridays for Future youth activists from over 30 countries launched their demands for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Their powerful press conference is a must watch with youth activists from the Philippines, Bangladesh, Scotland, the United States and Malaysia calling for a Treaty.
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Sneak peak: Global Registry of Fossil Fuels
Treaty partners Carbon Tracker and Global Energy Monitor unveiled a first look at their Global Registry of Fossil Fuels, at an event hosted by the Danish Government and featuring the UNEP. The Registry, publicly supported by Nauru, France, Sweden, Luxembourg and Stockholm Environment Institute, will track all fossil fuel reserves and production, expressed in terms of the embedded greenhouse gas emissions, to help plan for a global just transition.
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Report launch: The Fossil Fuelled 5
On the final day of COP26 we launched a scathing report analysing the rhetoric of five wealthy nations (UK, US, Norway, Canada & Australia) comparing it with their dangerous plans to expand fossil fuel production. The paper was written by Freddie Daley from the University of Sussex in partnership with Greenpeace, Oil Change International, Uplift, Stand.earth and The Australia Institute. Watch the recording here.
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1,000 civil society oendorsements
Over 1,000 civil society organisations have now endorsed the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty proposal. Encourage your networks to join them.
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Three billboards outside Glasgow, Scotland
Our Fossil Fuel Treaty ad blitz across Glasgow also had an impact. Online, our video introducing the Treaty proposal reached 362,000 people near the COP26 venue. On the streets, a number of billboards also put the proposal on the agenda (see one of the designs above).
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You can be part of deciding what’s next
The Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty Initiative is driven by the power and advocacy of the organisations and people who endorse it as an idea – that is by you. We would love to invite you to discuss plans and strategies to take our shared efforts to the next level in 2022. Unfortunately it won't be over haggis but online.
What: Fossil Fuel Treaty Network 2022 Strategy Call
When: Thurs 16th December, 2021 – two sessions, 8AM UTC or 3PM UTC
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