On September 13th, the eve of the UN General Assembly, the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative launched an open letter signed by 2,185 scientists, academics and researchers calling on world leaders to adopt and implement a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. Signatories find the Treaty to be a “matter of urgency to protect the lives and livelihoods of present and future generations through a global, equitable phase out of fossil fuels in line with the scientific consensus to not exceed 1.5ºC of warming.”
The latest IPCC report was heralded as a “death knell” for the fossil fuel industry by the UN Secretary-General António Guterres. The open letter builds on this clear and urgent scientific consensus that the world needs to tackle the climate crisis at its source: fossil fuels. It also recognizes that the failure of regulation at the national and international level has resulted in countries making climate commitments while still increasing fossil fuel extraction. The Treaty could remedy that blind spot by explicitly tackling the production of coal, oil and gas.
In addition to Professor Harris, signatories include academics from 81 countries and a range of disciplines, including Michael E. Mann, Erica Chenoweth, NASA Climate scientist Peter Kalmus, Mark Z. Jacobson, President of the Club of Rome Sandrine Dixson-Decleve, French economist Gaël Giraud, David Suzuki, Ömer Madra, Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein.
For more information on the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, visit the following website: https://fossilfueltreaty.org/home
For more information on Professor Harris’s work in the Department of Social Sciences, visit his website: https://paulgharris.net