G20 leaders, time is running out to end our perilous addiction to fossil fuels — act now

Our world is at a breaking point. We are dangerously close to exceeding the 1.5°C limit of warming that scientists have warned is the threshold to prevent the most catastrophic and irreversible consequences of climate change. And despite knowing this, we continue to expand the very thing driving this crisis: fossil fuels. The oil, coal, and gas that power our economies are responsible for about 80% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, year after year, we continue business as usual, pushing our planet to the brink.

The science is crystal clear, and so is the solution: we must phase out fossil fuels fast and fairly. Failure to embark in the necessary energy transition comes at a high cost of lives and to the future well-being of people and the economy that sustains us.

But instead of making the necessary changes, the G20 nations – your nations – poured more than $1.4-trillion in subsidies into fossil fuel companies in 2022 alone. The world’s taxpayers spend nearly roughly $13-million every minute propping up the very industry that threatens their future. This money could be used to build a future powered by clean, renewable energy and create millions of decent jobs.

In the lead-up to the upcoming G20 summit, we have seen negotiators from all countries grapple in earnest with the threat that humanity finds itself in. Your negotiators have struggled to balance what the science has been telling us we need to do for almost 30 years when the first Earth Summit took place right here in Rio with short-term considerations.

[We acknowledge the leadership of the Brazilian presidency in placing nature in the global economic agenda and highlighting the need for equitable outcomes to halt poverty and hunger. We know that the establishment of the historic 10 High-Level Principles on Bioeconomy did not come easily. This marks the first time the bioeconomy has been the subject of a multilaterally agreed document within the G20 framework. The work must continue in the coming South Africa G20 presidency. We want to see how these principles will become actionable, with comprehensive and respectful consultations with indigenous peoples and avoiding false solutions, of which we have seen far too many over the past three decades.

We, of course, are mindful of the reality that the fossil fuel industry is very powerful. They have falsified the science for decades and continue to lobby against action, as they did recently at the COP 16 on Biodiversity in Cali, Colombia, to ensure fossil fuels – a primary driver of biodiversity loss – were not even mentioned in the outcome. This denial of reality must stop. Failing to acknowledge that fossil fuels are the major driver of biodiversity loss and climate change cannot go on any further. This is as absurd as Alcoholics Anonymous having a two-week conference with a final declaration that does not mention alcohol. 

It is time to recognise that we need to complement existing frameworks with the negotiation of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to address the root cause of the climate crisis: our dependence on fossil fuels. Fourteen nations, including fossil fuel producers Colombia and Timor-Leste, have already come together to drive this process forward, showing that this is both necessary and possible. We have faced existential threats before and taken bold, collective action. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty protected us from the spread of nuclear weapons; the Landmine Treaty saved countless lives in conflict zones; and the Montreal Protocol safeguarded the ozone layer, preventing global environmental catastrophe. Just as we acted then, we must act now to prevent runaway climate change by phasing out fossil fuels before it is too late. 

We understand the political complexities you face, but this is not a game. We cannot play political poker with the future of our children and grandchildren, and the stakes could not be higher. The planet doesn’t care about political timelines, elections or national boundaries. It doesn’t care whether a country is in the G20 or not. What matters is the choices we make now because we are running out of time to correct course.

Many of your nations in the G20 have the resources and resilience to weather some of the immediate impacts of climate change, but tens of millions of people from countries that have contributed the least to this crisis are already paying the first and most brutal price. Entire nations face extinction from rising sea levels, others from droughts, floods and storms that are becoming more frequent and deadly. These countries, often excluded from global power structures, are calling for justice. They are demanding that the world’s biggest emitters – including members of the G20 – step up, not just for their own people, but in solidarity with the rest of the world.

If we continue down this path, we are condemning our planet to unlivable conditions, where tipping points like melting ice sheets, dying coral reefs and collapsing ecosystems trigger a cascade of disasters that will not stop at any border.

Your own children will live in this future. Can you honestly look into their eyes and say you did everything in your power to stop it?

Now is the time to act, not only for your own countries but for the billions of people whose futures depend on your leadership. The science demands urgent action, and so do the people of the world. As you meet in Rio, on behalf of the supporters of the Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty Initiative, I urge you to rise to this moment. Take the bold steps necessary to end our dependence on fossil fuels. End the subsidies that only deepen our addiction. Join the bloc of countries seeking to negotiate a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. And invest in a future that is safe, fair and sustainable for all of us.

We know what needs to be done. The question is: will we do it?

For the sake of all our children and their children, I plead with you to act – now. DM

Kumi Naidoo is president of the Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty Initiative.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REeWvTRUpMk