‘COP25 must live up to the urgency at hand’

As delegates from around the world prepare to attend the COP25 climate talks in Madrid next week, the global climate campaign group 350.org is calling on countries to finally get serious about ending the financing and production of fossil fuels and do justice to the communities on the frontlines of climate change.

Just this past week, three stark reports on the rising carbon emissions and impacts on global temperatures have been released. These reports lay bare the horrific state of climate breakdown and its impacts across the globe and the urgent need to move away from fossil fuels.

This has been a historic year as we’ve witnessed millions of people around the world take to the streets as part of the Climate Strikes. It is impossible for governments to continue to ignore how people from all walks of life are demanding a just transition to 100 per cent renewable energy be accelerated.

350.org will be at COP25 to remind governments that people’s lives, livelihoods, homes, and futures are on the line, and to amplify the voices of communities from Latin America and around the world striving for climate justice.

May Boeve, Executive Director of 350.org in statement said, ““This is a pivotal moment for global efforts to combat climate change. Big coal, oil, and gas companies will either win with their version of climate denial – which is to call for slow action – or we will move ahead to a clean energy future that works for all. We expect governments to come to these climate talks to live up to the moral urgency at hand with clear plans to: cut all public and private funding to fossil fuels, ban new fossil fuel exploration, and enable a  just transition for communities currently dependent on fossil fuels for work or energy. The only way for this process to succeed is to acknowledge, as science dictates, that it is time to put a discussion of fossil fuels front and centre. It is time for governments to be on the right side of history.

“This is the COP for countries to get serious about ending the production of fossil fuels. Wealthy countries should take the lead in banning new fossil fuel projects, phasing out existing production, ending subsidies and other financial support for the industry, and providing financial support for developing countries to deal with the impacts of the climate emergency and transition to 100% renewable energy. All of these efforts would be aided by kicking fossil fuel industry lobbyists out of COP: they’re only there to block progress and the world desperately needs to move forward.”

Nicole Oliveira, Latin America Managing Director, 350.org added, “COP25 will be especially important for Latin American communities because of our urgent need to make polluters pay for their impacts is finally becoming part of the mainstream conversations. It is time for the coal, oil and gas companies to make it up for the decades-long damage they have caused in our continent and for the rich countries, which are historically the biggest emitters, to finance the transition to an economy based on the peoples’ needs.”

“Inequality, disregard for human rights and racism are deeply rooted in the climate crisis, and these are the same factors that have been stirring protests and turbulence in many parts of Latin America. People in the continent are firmly demanding a much more fair society, and if the governments in the region are indeed willing to hear, they will have to act in accordance, including at COP25, and work to put people’s needs ahead of the greed of the usual polluters”.