Over 500 Global Groups Call on World Leaders to Help End Russian War in Ukraine + End Fossil Fuel Reliance

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 27, 2022

Contact:
Collin Rees, collin@priceofoil.org
Dharini Parthasarathy, dparthasarathy@climatenetwork.org
Gabriela Sarri-Tobar, gsarritobar@biologicaldiversity.org

Over 500 Global Groups Call on World Leaders to Help End the Russian War in Ukraine and End Reliance on Fossil Fuels
Today, over 500 civil society organisations from six continents urge world leaders to renew efforts to facilitate an end to the Russian war in Ukraine and to end a dangerous dependence on fossil fuels that is driving war, instability and conflicts globally.

[Full letter to world leaders]
[French version]
[Spanish version]

Two months after the start of this war, which continues to kill and displace millions of people in Ukraine, this letter calls on national leaders to view this moment as an inflection point and usher in global peace, international solidarity and stability that is built around the rapid, just and equitable transition to renewables and energy efficiency technologies.

The letter states: “Humanity now faces a cascade of emergencies. The Russian military, business and political elites around President Putin are committing brutal crimes in Russia’s war in Ukraine, annihilating basic principles of state sovereignty and undermining democracy. At the same time, the climate crisis is wreaking an ‘atlas of human suffering’. These crises may seem entirely independent, but they share the same dangerous thread: dependence on fossil fuels.”

The letter specifically urges leaders to stop fossil fuel expansion, tax windfall profits, and eliminate subsidies and other financial support to the oil, coal, and gas industry. The letter also demands that safe, distributed, democratic renewable energy systems and energy-efficiency technologies proliferate in the place of fossil fuels and reach the one billion people still without electricity.

“Importantly, the renewable energy future must not repeat the violence of the extractive, fossil fuel past. Justice must ground this transition to redress the climate, colonialist, racist, socioeconomic, and ecological injustices of the fossil fuel era,” the letter states.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released a report confirming the scientific mandate to make rapid and deep cuts in carbon emissions — by phasing out all fossil fuels and making transformative shifts for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and forest and ecosystem conservation — for a viable chance to preserve a livable planet.

Quotes from Signers:

“Russia is waging a war on Ukraine, but also on the climate. It has been supplying the world with fossil fuels for decades, creating dependencies which are now being used for blackmail. Are we learning our historical lesson yet? Quitting Russian coal, oil and gas which fuel the war on Ukraine should only be the first step for the world. Countries must break free from their fossil fuel addiction and stop jumping from one supplier to another. We want to see the criminal fossil fuel industry end in the closest decade and transition to renewable energy as fast as possible. There should be no place for dirty and harmful energy suppliers in the world we’re building,” said Olha Boiko, coordinator of Climate Action Network Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia.

“Fossil fuel extraction is fueling militarism and human rights violations worldwide, and the war in Ukraine is only the latest tragic example. In Mozambique, new gas developments have recently led to exacerbated violence, killings and displacement. The only effective response to today’s compounding crises is for global leaders to support the efficiency and clean energy solutions that can replace these dirty fuels, whether produced in Russia or elsewhere, and eliminate the need for any new LNG infrastructure. The pandemic has shown that governments can rapidly mobilize massive sums of public money. This is the moment to do it, and accelerate the transition to a clean and fair future without fossil-fueled conflict,” said Laurie van der Burg, Global Public Finance Campaign Co-Manager at Oil Change International.

“We see the grubby, dirty fingerprints of the fossil fuel industry all over this illegal invasion of Ukraine. The blood money funding this war and many such conflicts is from a dangerous addiction to fossil fuels. Long before this war started millions of us have been demanding an end to the fossil fuel era — and we now demand this more urgently and more loudly. Fossil fuels are a clear and present danger to us all — and the most recent science has confirmed this. We demand an alternate future for humanity and all that thrives on this planet, one built on renewables, peace, and democracy. It is our best and only chance for peace and survival,” said Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of Climate Action Network International.

“The fossil fuel blood money funding Russia’s war machine reveals the link between dirty energy and deadly conflict. Democracy and the future of life on Earth depend on breaking fossil fuels’ dominance in favor of renewable-energy independence.  Fossil fuels are incompatible with a peaceful and just future, and world leaders must act accordingly,” said Jean Su, Energy Justice Director at Center for Biological Diversity. 

“The war in Ukraine, like many recent wars in the last few decades, is being enabled by the world’s greed for fossil fuels and like all wars it is causing shortages and inflation around the world. Taken together with the relentless effects of climate change, and the post-pandemic slow economic recovery, the global south is faced with unprecedented challenges to ensure its very survival. Now more than ever, it is time for peace, and for concerted efforts by the world governments to come together to address climate change. For that to happen the world must phase out fossil fuels and embrace new renewable energy technologies at the earliest,” said Sanjay Vashist, Director of Climate Action Network South Asia. 

“The war in Ukraine has shown clearly why we must speed up the transition to renewable energy and end fossil fuel addiction once and for all. As the current President of the European Union Council, France must lead the way to push for bold and radical energy reforms that are aligned with the Paris Agreement’s goal. These reforms must include energy savings and efficiency measures to secure a sustainable and just future,” said Aurore Mathieu, International Policy Officer of Climate Action Network France. 

“Fossil fuels, when their external costs are properly accounted for, are now costing us all far more than we realise. The era of apparently cheap, easy fossil energy is well behind us; it ended in the 1970s, in fact. Now that cheaper alternatives exist, every nation that genuinely respects the human rights of its citizens must accelerate transition away from this deadly dependency.” – David Le Page, coordinator of Fossil Free South Africa, a member of South Africa Climate Action Network.

“Nothing justifies killing anyone, let alone innocent and unarmed citizens, whose lives are disrupted and flipped upside down. The war on Ukraine is a war of greed and vengeance. A war over unsustainable dirt. Fossil fuels have only created damage and injustice all over the world.  It is time to put an end to it,” said Fatima Ahouli, Regional Coordinator of Climate Action Network Arab World.

“Fossil fuels are making the world a much more dangerous place. Not just in terms of the impacts of climate change, but also in terms of geopolitical forces. Ukraine is the perfect example. The world will be a much safer, much more amenable place for all of humanity once we have weaned ourselves off dependency on oil, coal and gas. Australia has the opportunity to fast-track the transition to renewable energy as we have abundant solar and wind potential. It is our duty to all of humanity to rapidly move Australia from exporting coal and gas to exporting green hydrogen and ammonia,” said Glen Klatovsky, acting Executive Director of Climate Action Network Australia.

“Extractivism has for centuries been the root causes of displacement, extermination and injustice for communities.
That same extractivist and colonial model continues to cause suffering for vulnerable people and communities. The barbarism reflected in Putin’s war against the Ukrainian people is a case in point. The elimination of fossil fuel consumption today is more urgent than ever, not only fossil fuels coming from Russia. The transition to renewables is a must to stop financing this and other wars across the world. Such a transition will not only prevent further losses and damages attributable to the climate crisis in the future, but will also limit the potential for further brutalities and abuses against vulnerable communities,” said Alejandro Aleman, Node Coordinator of Climate Action Network Latin America.

“At a time when the world needs to solely focus its attention on averting the ongoing climate emergency and reversing the brief, rapidly closing window to secure a liveable future, the war in Ukraine is an unmitigated disaster and tragedy. The linkage of the war to fossil fuels is clear in how prominently they feature in the war narrative, and the sharp increase in the  price of oil and gas worldwide causing economic distress worldwide. If there ever is a time for the global community to wean themselves off fossil fuels, shift financial flows away from fossil fuel production and subsidies and mainstream renewable energy solutions, it is now. This transformation should be accompanied with a just transition framework to ensure the shift towards renewable and net-zero carbon emissions is fair to all, especially the most vulnerable communities,” said Nithi Nesadurai, Director and Regional Coordinator of Climate Action Network Southeast Asia.

“The world has had enough invasions and emissions attributed to fossil fuels. We need to prioritize modern technologies and stop investing in fossil fuels  for peace and a safe climate. We have one planet to live on, let’s protect it,” said Wellington Madumira, National Coordinator of Climate Action Network Zimbabwe. 

“It is clear that our use of and reliance on fossil fuels is a threat to our safety — by impacting our climate, our public health, and our security. Delaying the shift to renewable energy and extending the life of fossil fuels means continuing to expose ourselves to these impacts, which will only worsen as the climate crisis grows. Now more than ever, phasing out fossil fuels means protecting all of us from threats to our safety and security,” said Evan Gach, Node Coordinator of Climate Action Network Japan. 

Read the full letter with signatories: http://oilchange.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2022-4-27_Letter-to-World-Leaders-re-End-Fossil-Fuel-Era-Accelerate-Transtion-to-Renewable-Energy.pdf

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