Ivano-Frankivsk, 16 March, for immediate release
Seven years after the Paris Agreement was signed and a promise was made by 195 countries to protect people and the planet, the world’s leading climate scientists are about to deliver their final wake up call to governments and financial institutions who still fail to deliver meaningful climate action. Whether or not the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is up to speaking truth to power, civil society will not be silent.
“There’s only one obstacle for reaching Paris Agreement goals: the fossil fuel industry. It is awful to see that the fossil fuel addicted cowards in corporate offices were able to hold the whole world hostage for so long. In pursuit of their insatiable greed they impose terrible violence on all of us: from Small Island States, vanishing among rising seas and super storms, to East Africa scorched by deadly draught with food and water shortages, to my homeland Ukraine where we fight off the assault of petro dictator Putin, who was elevated to power by big oil and gas. Financial regulators, central banks, governments and international organizations must not be on their side, investing in fossil fueled conflicts and climate disasters. Fossil fuel CEOs and petro dictators struggle and fail to undercut our spirit and take away our freedom. Their time is up. And time for us to rise for clean investments, peace and justice”, – says Svitlana Romanko, Founder and Director of Razom We Stand.
For the 1.5 degree climate goal set in the Paris Agreement to be achieved, immediate and bold political action is needed in two key directions:
- At least doubling of global clean energy investments by 2024. The US, EU and G7 must mobilize war-time-effort for funding clean energy deployment.
- Immediate end to fossil fuel expansion. Financial regulators, central banks, governments and international organizations must take immediate steps to disincentive and ultimately bar investments in any fossil fuel extraction projects.
The IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report must reiterate the common knowledge, one that the fossil fuel industry is desperately trying to obscure and undermine: renewable energy, most notably solar and wind, and energy efficiency measures applied in all sectors, are technologically, financially and economically the primary means to fight climate change. A rapid fossil fuel phaseout and rollout of renewable energies alongside energy efficiency and demand-side measures remain the most straightforward and most certain path to deliver on Paris Agreement climate goals.
Green Deal policies aimed at accelerated deployment of renewable energy and electrification should be complemented by introduction of supply-side climate policies. The full set of these measures – from removing fossil fuel subsidies, to taxing methane emissions, to banning extraction on public lands, to accelerated retirement of fossil fuel infrastructure and assets – could offer governments and coalitions valuable new tools to achieve climate goals as effectively, efficiently and as rapidly as possible.
“Government leaders must stop funding the deadly expansion of the fossil fuel industry and urgently work together to accelerate investments in a real clean energy transition. That’s how we defeat existing fossil fueled dictators like Putin and avoid creating new ones. Dismantling the dominance of the fossil fuel industry will bring us lasting peace and protect our climate, our livelihoods, and our future”, – underlines Svitlana Romanko.
