Waterkeeper Alliance Delivers COP29 Statement: UNFCCC Must Take Immediate Climate Action to Phase Out Fossil Fuels
By: Waterkeeper Alliance
Waterkeeper Alliance Calls on the United Nations to Mandate a Legally Binding Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
Today, as countries gather for the first day of the COP29 Baku Conference, Waterkeeper Alliance delivered a statement to the UNFCCC calling for immediate action to address the root cause of the climate emergency: the ongoing expansion of fossil fuels. With escalating climate impacts and extreme weather disasters disproportionately harming vulnerable populations around the world, the statement urges countries to pursue an immediate Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to remain within a 1.5°C trajectory and directly confront climate destabilization.
With the incoming Trump administration already reportedly planning to gut climate action and pull the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement, this COP could be a critical opportunity for U.S. officials to take decisive and legally binding climate action before that occurs. During his first term, President Trump withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, promoted the expansion of fossil fuels, and renounced American leadership on environmental issues. Waterkeeper Alliance urges the Biden administration to seize this critical opportunity to further the United States’ commitments to climate action, prevent future set-backs, and partner with countries around the world to increase the scale and speed of global efforts to mitigate climate impacts.
The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report made a clear call to action, stating that “limiting global warming to 1.5°C requires rapid, deep, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, including the phase-out of fossil fuels” (IPCC, 2023). Last December, COP28 closed with an agreement that signals the “beginning of the end” of the fossil fuel era by laying the groundwork for a swift, just, and equitable transition, underpinned by deep emissions cuts and scaled-up finance. However, the continued approval of new fossil fuel extraction projects around the world highlights that voluntary pledges or isolated national policies are no longer sufficient to phase out fossil fuels. These dirty fossil fuel projects disproportionately impact frontline communities, exacerbate pollution, lock in decades of greenhouse gas emissions, and threaten human rights in the wake of increasingly destructive climate-driven events.
Although deeply important negotiations around climate finance and the Loss and Damage Fund, among other climate responses, are planned for COP29, new and expanded fossil fuel extraction cannot continue if countries seek to align with the IPCC’s call to action and the pledges made at COP28. In the face of inaction and increasingly destructive climate-driven events, Waterkeeper Alliance is calling for local and national leaders to join the growing bloc of 14 countries endorsing a legally binding international agreement that mandates the rapid phase-out of fossil fuel extraction. A strong Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty would prioritize:
- A Halt to New Extraction Projects
- A Just Transition
- Phasing Out Existing Energy Infrastructure
- International Cooperation and Climate Justice
- Responsible Renewable Energy
- Uphold the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
In response to the kick off of the COP29 conference, Waterkeeper Alliance CEO Marc Yaggi has released the following statement:
“In recent years, we have witnessed some of the most destructive and deadly climate-driven events wreaking havoc on our waterways, infrastructure, and way of life. Communities around the world cannot afford to wait any longer for bold, unified climate action to phase out fossil fuels. This COP29 conference represents a key opportunity to respond to the urgent IPCC call to action and keep our planet within a 1.5°C global warming trajectory. Continued approval of new and expanded fossil fuel extraction projects will lock in decades of greenhouse gas emissions and all but guarantee that the world’s most vulnerable populations will continue to bear the brunt of devastating climate impacts. Now, more than ever, we need a legally binding mandate to phase out fossil fuels if we are to have any hope of slowing the alarming pace of climate change.”