Governments have been asked not to build new fossil fuel extraction or transportation infrastructure, and that they should not grant new permits for them.
This submission forms part of the recommendations in a new study released on Thursday by Oil Change International (OCI).
The OCI, in partnership with 14 organisations from around the world, scientifically grounds the growing movement to keep carbon in the ground by revealing the need to stop all new fossil fuel infrastructure and industry expansion.
The report, titled: The Sky’s Limit – Why the Paris Climate Goals Require a Managed Decline of Fossil Fuel Production,” also recommended that some fields and mines – primarily in rich countries – should be closed before fully exploiting their resources, and financial support should be provided for non-carbon development in poorer countries.
The report focuses on the potential carbon emissions from developed reserves – where the wells are already drilled, the pits dug, and the pipelines, processing facilities, railways, and export terminals constructed.
According to the report, suggestions put forward does not mean stopping the use of all fossil fuels overnight. Rather, it added, governments and companies should conduct a managed decline of the fossil fuel industry and ensure a just transition for the workers and communities that depend on it.
Key findings are listed to include:
- The potential carbon emissions from the oil, gas, and coal in the world’s currently operating fields and mines would take us beyond 2°C of warming.
- The reserves in currently operating oil and gas fields alone, even with no coal, would take the world beyond 1.5°C.
- With the necessary decline in production over the coming decades to meet climate goals, clean energy can be scaled up at a corresponding pace, expanding the total number of energy jobs.
The report is published by the OCI, in collaboration with Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), 350.org, Amazon Watch, APMDD, AYCC, Bold Alliance, Christian Aid, Earthworks, Équiterre, Global Catholic Climate Movement, Indigenous Environmental Network, IndyAct, Rainforest Action Network and Stand.earth.
