Climate activists are on Friday, September 13, 2024, mobilising across the globe in more than 150 events, spanning over 50 countries in all continents, calling on their governments to urgently implement a fast, fair and funded phase-out of fossil fuels to prevent further climate catastrophe.
In Africa, more than 70 events are planned across more than 20 countries, ranging from rallies to theatrical performances, with Kenya and Nigeria each hosting more than 10 actions. Meanwhile, in Asia as well, more than 70 coordinated demonstrations are taking place in 62 cities in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Japan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and India, with many targeting coal-fired power plants in protest against the alarming expansion of new coal projects in the region.
To be compliant with the goal of the 2015 Paris Agreement, the transition out of oil, gas and coal must be done at a pace and scale required to keep the global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
However, several Global North countries are reportedly going in the opposite direction. They are said to continue their fossil fuel expansion and provide billions in fossil fuel subsidies, and even prop up fossil fuel expansion in the Global South with public and private investments.
Lidy Nacpil, of Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development and Global Campaign Demand Climate Justice, said: “The climate crisis is escalating rapidly, yet global coal use and capacity is at an all-time high. Global North nations are bankrolling coal expansion in Asia, despite their leaders’ COP28 commitment to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels. We are calling on Asian governments to stop the expansion of coal in our countries and implement a rapid, equitable and just phase-out of existing coal. We demand a stop to direct and indirect public and private financing of coal. New electricity demand can be met with renewable energy, which is less costly, quicker to build, easier to make accessible to all communities and reduces reliance on imported fuels.”
The rallies kick off a global week of action ahead of Climate Week NYC (September 22-29) when world leaders assemble for the UN General Assembly and the first UN Summit of the Future where they will agree a Pact for the Future. Drafts of the pact have already seen a commitment to transition away from fossil fuels come and go – although it has been reinstated in the latest version.
Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of Climate Action Network International, said: “We demand action, not empty words. Rich nations call for a transition away from fossil fuels but do little to reduce their own emissions, and instead we are seeing their continued oil, gas and coal expansion. This double standard perpetuates the colonial legacy, and disproportionately devastates communities in the Global South. Africa, Asia, and Latin America & the Caribbean are paying the price with lost lives, destroyed infrastructure, and ruined livelihoods. Rich nations must lead and end the expansion of fossil fuels.”
Asad Rehman, Executive Director of War on Want and the Climate Justice Coalition, said: “For centuries, people, animals, and the environment – whole ecosystems, predominantly across the Global South – have been treated as resources to be extracted, exploited, and consumed for huge profit. But enough is enough. It’s time for rich Global North countries, including here in the UK, and multinational corporations to be held accountable for their roles in causing the climate crisis. We’re calling for Global North governments to commit to a fair and equitable transition away from fossil fuels and to pay up for the damage they have caused.”
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, WWF Global Climate and Energy Lead, former Minister of Environment for Peru, and COP20 President, said: “As we see climate records being shattered, the political importance of the energy transition is even more compelling and urgent. But the truth is that fossil fuel use is still rising, subsidies for fossil fuels remain in place, and new exploration projects are being announced. We are at a pivotal moment in time to secure a liveable and sustainable future for our planet. A rapid and fundamental transformation of the energy system is essential if we are to have any hope of limiting warming to 1.5°C. Countries must do everything possible to accelerate the phase out of fossil fuels in a fair, fast and equitable way, and enable the rapid scale up of renewable energy in this decisive decade. To fail at this, will be to fail future generations.”
Peter Kafwimbi, Founder and President of the Kankomwila Foundation, said: “My country Zambia, like many nations, is bearing the brunt of climate change, with a recent drought and maize shortages causing widespread hunger. The Global Week of Action for Climate Finance and a Fossil-Free Future is a wake-up call for world leaders and corporations to take immediate action. We demand they #PayUp for the damage caused by fossil fuel-driven climate crises and invest in sustainable solutions that can prevent further devastation. Our communities cannot afford more delays; it’s time to ensure a just, resilient future for all.”
Marta Schaaf, Director of Amnesty International’s Climate, Economic and Social Justice and Corporate Accountability Programme, said: “Climate change is a justice issue: it is producing a human rights crisis of climate injustice, racial injustice, gender injustice, intergenerational injustice and debt injustice. Lives, health, livelihoods and the right to a healthy environment of billions are at risk, especially of the most marginalised, yet historical emitting countries and high-income fossil fuel producers are failing to take the urgent steps we need for a full, fast, fair and funded phase out of all fossil fuels. We demand that states deliver on their human rights obligations to rapidly and equitably end fossil fuel production and use.”
Christine Allen, Director of CAFOD, the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, said: “The time for rich countries to pay up their fair share of climate finance is long overdue. It’s vulnerable communities that are on the frontlines of this emergency, despite doing the least to cause it – we need fairer taxes and debt cancellation now to make sure it’s polluters who pay, not the poorest.”
Laurie van der Burg, Public Finance co-lead at Oil Change International, said: “Fair fossil fuel phaseout needs fair funding. Countries agreed to phase out fossil fuels at COP28, and now it’s time to pay up. There is no shortage of public money available for rich countries to pay their fair share on fair terms. They can free up trillions in grants and grant-equivalent finance by ending fossil fuel handouts, making polluters pay and changing unfair financial rules. This will help countries deliver strong national climate plans next year that end new fossil fuel expansion, and secure our last chance to avoid breaching deadly temperature limits.”
Graham Gordon, Head of Global Advocacy and Policy at Christian Aid, said: “With temperatures soaring above 46 degrees across Asia, record-breaking wildfires raging across North America and Canada and catastrophic flooding in many parts of Africa and the Caribbean, it’s time for drastic action. Too many people’s lives depend on it. We need actions not words at the UN Summits later this month. And that means an end to all investment in fossil fuels and a new, fair and ambitious climate financing goal, with rich polluting oil companies paying their fair share.”
Susann Scherbarth, Head of Climate Justice, Friends of the Earth Germany (BUND e.V.), said: “It’s time for a serious, swift, and well-funded phase-out of fossil fuels. Germany must lead by ending subsidies to the fossil fuel industry and urgently addressing its gas dependency. The German government cannot accept false solutions such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) or hydrogen produced from fossil fuels, which fail to achieve real, drastic emission reductions. The deadly climate crisis must drive more people into the streets, demanding bold and immediate action. Germany’s leadership is essential now to ensure a just transition away from fossil fuels.”
Federico Sibaja, IMF Campaign Manager at Recourse, said: “The World Bank and the IMF, controlled by wealthy Northern countries, are shaping the Global South’s climate policy for their own gain, by ensuring juicy interest repayments on climate loans and privatising climate action. These institutions cannot be part of the solution, as they even continue to lock in fossil fuel dependence in debt-ridden countries.”
Ogunlade Olamide, the Senior Programme Manager, Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), said: ‘’It is worrying that climate finance is being reduced to charity and business by entities responsible for the crises when coping capacities of impacted frontline communities are almost exhausted. We demand that this parasitic system must STOP, Its people over profit and not the opposite.’’
Elise Åsnes, President of Spire, a Norwegian youth NGO, said: “Norway has a historical responsibility for the climate crisis, but is nowhere near taking its responsibility. Their solutions are cowardly, fake and fossil. Norway has to implement real and comprehensive climate policies, and stop greenwashing their oil with potential CCS-technology.”
Patrick Brown, Campaigns and Operations Director at Equal Right, said: “The Global Week of Action for Climate Finance and a Fossil-Free Future is an opportunity to redouble and renew our efforts to end fossil fuel extraction and identify the means by which we can raise the trillions required annually for climate justice and a justice transition. We must put in place measures to equitably end extraction, make polluters pay and redistribute global wealth with the people of the world.”
