OVER a hundred Nobel Laureates, including His Holiness The Dalai Lama, have called on world leaders “to keep fossil fuels in the ground” as a key test of commitment to climate action.
In an open letter released on the eve of the Leaders’ Climate Summit hosted by US President Joseph Biden, the Nobel Prize awardees for various disciplines from around the globe called out governments for being too slow to respond to the shared warnings by science and people-powered movements that urgent and cooperative international action is needed to keep fossil fuels in the ground and to avoid climate catastrophe.
“Allowing the continued expansion of this industry is unconscionable. The fossil fuel system is global and requires a global solution – a solution the Leaders’ Climate Summit must work towards. And the first step is to keep fossil fuels in the ground,” the letter said.
President Biden invited 40 world leaders for a Summit on Climate on April 22 and 23. Among Biden’s first act on his first day in office was to return to the Paris Agreement. The summit aims to “galvanize efforts by the major economies to tackle the climate crisis.”
But climate activists wanted more concrete action. The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative (FFNPTI), which coordinated the letter to the laureates, said fossil fuel is absent in the Paris Agreement.
“Meanwhile, the fossil fuel industry continues to plan new projects. Banks continue to fund new projects. According to the most recent United Nations Environment Programme report, 120 percent more coal, oil and gas will be produced by 2030 than is consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C.
“Allowing the continued expansion of this industry is unconscionable. The fossil fuel system is global and requires a global solution – a solution the Leaders’ Climate Summit must work towards. And the first step is to keep fossil fuels in the ground, ” the FFNPTI said.
The FFNPTI, through its Chairman Tzeporah Berman said climate activists are , “thrilled to have Nobel laureates such as His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Tawakkol Karman and Juan Manuel Santos join this call to stop fossil fuel expansion.”
“We already have more than enough fossil fuel in production to make the renewable transition, making expansion plans redundant and a hindrance to progress. With political attention to climate at its highest since the lead up to Paris, heads of state must use the Summit to put an international spotlight on the need to stop oil, gas and coal expansion,” Berman said.
In his statement, Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace laureate (Bangladesh) for his work on microcredit, called on world leaders to “ take this opportunity to reshape a post-COVID-19 society and propel ourselves toward a fairer and greener future. We can build a world where the poor will not continue to be overwhelmingly victimized by global warming. The technology exists, the desire from the people exists and the world waits on heads of state to act.”
In the Philippines, the Asia People’s Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD) said claims that fossil gas as transition fuel should be debunked.
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