Climate justice movements call for major global mobilisation to fight fossil fuels on September 15 & 17

For Immediate Release

15 June, Bonn, Germany – As the Bonn Climate Change Conference comes to an end, climate justice movements from all sectors join their voices to fight back the declared war that fossil fuels and those who continue to support it have imposed against us. The call for a coordinated global mobilisation to #EndFossilFuels #FastFairForever on September 15 & 17 was launched today during a press conference. As world leaders gather at the UN climate talks in New York City, millions of people in every corner of the globe will take to the streets to demand a rapid, just, and equitable end to coal, oil and gas.

Our world is in crisis, and the biggest cause is fossil fuels: coal, oil and gas. The fossil fuel industry is responsible for 86% of all CO2 emissions in the past decade. They are driving a predatory and destructive economic system that harms people and the planet, fuelling climate breakdown.

The science is clear: what the world needs now is a rapid and just transition to an energy and economic system that is efficient, fair, and universal. A system based on clean energy sources, and produced with respect for nature and the sovereign rights of Indigenous peoples. 

Across the world, people are fighting back against the fossil fuel industry: we’re resisting the development of new pipelines, mines and infrastructure; we’re demanding that financial institutions stop funding fossil fuels; we’re pushing for a rapid, just and equitable phase out of all fossil fuels; we are fighting back against unproven technologies that don’t address the root cause of the climate crisis; and we’re demanding that big oil, coal and gas companies are held accountable and pay for the harm they cause. 

To have any hope of addressing the root causes of the climate crisis, leaders of the biggest polluting countries must deliver a fast and fair phase out of fossil fuels and fund it globally.

The climate crisis is escalating and in response so is the global movement for climate justice. From September onwards, we will scale up our movement to #EndFossilFuels #FastFairForever. This wave of global mobilisations will include the March to #EndFossilFuels in New York City on September 17, as world leaders attend the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Ambition Summit.

Romain Ioualalen, Global Policy lead, Oil Change International “There is no room for additional fossil fuel expansion while limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. COP28 must urgently lay the path for the end of oil, gas, and coal. People around the world have been fighting against the fossil fuel industry for years and will escalate this fight this September at the United Nations in New York and beyond to secure a full, fair, fast, and funded fossil fuel phase out and massive expansion of renewable energy.”

Tasneem Essop, Executive Director, Climate Action Network: “The launch of today’s escalation campaign to fight back against fossil fuels builds on the legacy of a diversity of resistance movements from across the world who have been leading the fight against the fossil industry and its pernicious influence. We expect all governments to implement a rapid,  just and equitable phase out of fossil fuels together with a scaled up phase in of renewables. They have to signal that this is the end of the fossil fuel era. COP28 is a good place to start.”

Lidy Nacpil, Coordinator, Asian Peoples’ Movement On Debt And Development: “A fast and fair end to fossil fuel energy is urgently needed. To achieve this we must also fight for the delivery of the climate finance obligations of rich countries not only to support the fossil fuel phase out in the South but also an equally rapid and just transition to democratic and  renewable energy systems. The goal is not just to decarbonize but to provide clean energy systems for people and communities.”

Brenna TwoBears, Coordinator, Indigenous Environmental Network: “The time is now to end fossil fuels. This has been centuries in the making, when colonizers brought the first extractive systems to Turtle Island and commodified the land. But shutting down fossil fuels is only one strand among many to weave a basket to hold up the next seven generations. We need a just and equitable transition, where Indigenous People are leading. We need a culture shift to live in balance with our sky and land relatives. We need real solutions that address the problem at its root, not after the fact. A fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty is that real solution.”

Alex Rafalowicz, Executive Director, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative: “In the face of an escalating climate crisis, as the fossil fuel industry keeps digging in while climate impacts ravage our communities and ecosystems, we find no other choice but to fight back. While governments are still backtracking and avoiding talking about the root cause of the problem, there are those who are suffering the consequences of inaction today, somewhere in the world. People from all sectors are joining hands in ending the proliferation of fossil fuels everywhere. Our demand is clear: an equitable phase out of coal, oil and gas in a way that is fast, fair and forever.”

Gina Cortés Valderrama, Women and Gender Constituency: “Under the capitalist and colonial imperative, an extractivist development has managed to impose itself on the shoulders of women in all their diversity, subsidising this system through unpaid, unvalued and unrecognised work. This must stop! This is why we are standing together with trade unions, youth, indigenous and afro-descendant communities, to fight back through collective actions that show evidence that another world is possible.”

Rev James Bhagwan, General Secretary, Pacific Conference of Churches: “For decades, people and communities globally have sounded the alarm about the dangers of destructive coal, oil, and gas industries. Across the world, people are fighting back against the fossil fuel industry. We’re pushing for a rapid, just and equitable phase out of all fossil fuels, and we’re demanding that big oil, coal and gas companies are held accountable and pay for the harm they cause. Climate leadership to achieve real progress is already emerging outside of the conference centers. Resilient countries like Pacific nations, least responsible for the climate crisis, are spearheading a bloc of champion countries formally seeking a negotiating mandate for a Fossil Fuel Treaty as the only concrete way out of this crisis.”

Eric Njuguna, Youth Coordinator, Fridays for Future MAPA: “We are tired of occupying these spaces with our presence and our voices and getting empty promises in return. Our communities and our ecosystems can no longer afford any harm imposed on them by the fossil fuel industry. The weight of fossil fuel impacts has fallen disproportionately upon our shoulders. Witnessing the detrimental consequences of our addiction to fossil fuels, we are rising from classrooms to the streets, with an unwavering determination to fight for change. The choices we make today will shape the world we inherit tomorrow. The power to create lasting change lies within the hands of all of us.”

Access partners quote sheet here

OUR DEMANDS:

#EndFossilFuels #FastFairForever

No new fossil fuels – no new finance public or private, no new approvals, licenses, permits, or extensions.  The provision of sufficient, consensual climate funding to realise this commitment everywhere.
A rapid, just and equitable phase out of existing fossil fuel infrastructure in line with the 1.5ºC temperature limit and a global plan, like a Fossil Fuel Treaty, to ensure that each country does its part. 
New commitments for international cooperation to drastically scale up financial and technology transfers to ensure renewable energy access, economic diversification plans, and Just Transition processes so that every country and community can phase out fossil fuels.
Stop greenwashing and claiming that offsets, CCS, or geoengineering are solutions to the climate crisis.
Hold polluters responsible for the damage they’ve caused and make sure it’s coal, oil, and gas corporations that pay reparations for climate loss and damage and for local rehabilitation, remediation and transition.
End fossil fuel corporate capture. No to corporations writing the rules of climate action, bankrolling climate talks, or undermining the global response to climate change.

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Media Contacts

Ashwini Prabha, ashwini@ggon.org, +33 7 69 74 81 84
Dharini Parthasarathy, dparthasarathy@climatenetwork.org, +91 88261 07830 (In Bonn)
Neha Gupta, neha@fossilfueltreaty.org, +91 98100 78055 (In Bonn)
Rachitaa Gupta, rachitaa.dcj@gmail.com, +91 84474 45543 (In Bonn)