Colombia joins international alliance calling for treaty to end use of fossil fuels
Colombia has formally joined an alliance of nations calling for a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, the country’s president announced at Cop28, adding its voice to calls to phase out the era of coal, oil and gas.
At the climate summit in Dubai, Gustavo Petro, the Colombian president, has said his country would join a group of nations calling for a new body to manage a global transition away from the primary driver of global heating, akin to previous treaties to reduce nuclear weapon arsenals and landmines.
“While it is the use of fossil fuels that causes emissions, there is no direct mention of fossil fuels in the Paris agreement or subsequent agreements. What is frightening is that governments plan to increase the frontier of fossil fuel exploitation. Colombia believes we need a plan to phase out fossil fuels,” said Susana Muhamad, the country’s environment minister.
The Latin American country, which has a significant oil, gas and coal industries, is the 10th country to join the coalition and the second fossil fuel producer to back the treaty after Timor-Leste did so earlier this year. The initiative was launched by a group of Pacific island nations and has gained support from the European parliament, the World Health Organization and 100 cities and subnational governments.
At Cop28 countries are wrestling with what language to use over the reduction of fossil fuelconsumption to limit global heating, with governments split on language to phase down or phase out fossil fuels amid urgent scientific calls for rapid global decarbonisation.
The announcement was greeted by heads of state that have already joined the alliance backing the treaty, including small island states that are already experiencing major threats from the climate crisis.
Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, praised Colombia’s enthusiasm for the proposed treaty. “The transition to clean energy sources is not simply an option; it is an urgent necessity to which Colombia seeks to respond. Its arrival in this group of pioneering nations strengthens our collective position and demonstrates growing diplomatic support for a negotiating mandate for this fossil fuel treaty. With Colombia, we have just taken one more step towards a future free from oil, gas and coal,” he said.
The International Energy Agency (IEA), the global energy watchdog, has said demand for coal, oil and gas will begin to decline this decade, signalling the “the beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era. Billions of tonnes of greenhouse gases are pumped into the atmosphere every year from the burning of fossil fuels.
José Ramos-Horta, the president of Timor-Leste, said: “As a country dependent on oil and gas development, we know that international cooperation is a ‘sine qua non’ condition for making a global energy transition possible, even more so if it is to be just. To make this possible requires predictable, considerable financial support from richer nations that benefited the most from decades of coal, oil and gas extraction. It is time for them to join our growing group of nation states committing to develop a plan to end the era of fossil fuels. Anything less are crocodile tears.”
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