Calls for Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty at COP 27 in Egypt next Month

Ahead of the critical COP27 climate conference in Egypt next month, Pacific Island nations are calling for a global, binding Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Without a coordinated international push to phase out fossil fuels, many island nations will be entirely underwater in a century.

President Nikenike Vurobaravu of the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu, the first nation to call for a Treaty, explains, “Every day, we are experiencing the debilitating consequences of the climate crisis… …we are measuring climate change not in degrees of Celsius or tons of carbon, but in human lives.”

Superstorms and rising sea levels put island nations in particular at imminent risk due to climate. A Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty would be a binding international agreement to phase out fossil fuels while supporting dependent economies, workers, and communities to diversify away from fossil fuels. It would ensure 100% access to renewable energy globally and promote a just transition that leaves no one behind. Negotiating and signing a treaty like this would be a critical climate mitigation step on the path to a greener economy.

It’s crucial that the international community rapidly negotiates and ratifies a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty that commits to phasing out fossil fuel production and fast-tracking progress towards safer and more cost-effective alternatives.

Future generations will look back and judge us by what we did (or didn’t) do to combat climate change during this critical decade. They will either wonder why we didn’t do more, or marvel at how we rallied the world to come together and address the existential crisis that is climate change. Passing a global, binding Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty would be a massive step toward a climate-safe future.

It won’t be easy. But I know it’s achievable. What started as a simple idea from Stand.earth’s International Program Director, Tzeporah Berman, is now gaining momentum and being talked about in dozens of languages across six different continents by everyone from grassroots activists to world leaders.