Open Letter: Scientists & climate justice leaders globally encourage Colombia to ban fracking and spearhead the call for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
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We, the undersigned, building on previous global public calls of support, recognise as vital the climate leadership of the government of Gustavo Petro and Francia Márquez since the Colombian presidential elections of 2022.
While many of our own governments continue to delay and ignore the urgent warnings we face as humanity, Colombia has begun to forge another path with a government that has committed to the "reduction of economic dependence on oil and coal." A bold and pioneering commitment for Latin America's largest coal exporter and one of the region's leading oil producers.
The challenge of decoupling its economy from the fossil fuel industry is great. However, it is a commitment commensurate with the threats to life, climate and the economy that the people of Colombia and the world, especially the most vulnerable communities, face if the energy transition is not planned for, managed, and accelerated.
In addition to national political reforms such as the bill to ban fracking and unconventional extraction (currently stalled by establishment forces in Commission V of the House of Representatives), it is clear that international support will be essential for Colombia to realize its plan to move away from economic dependence on oil, coal and gas, and to imagine and develop an alternative approach to energy democratically.
The upcoming COP 28 climate summit - to be held in Dubai - will be highly focused on whether or not the outcome of the negotiations mentions the imperative to plan for an exit from fossil fuel production.
However, we know that declarations are not enough and that it is necessary to implement a concrete and binding plan for a global energy transition based on justice.
In this context, the call for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, now supported by a bloc of 8 Pacific, Caribbean and South Asian countries, as well as the World Health Organization, 9 Peruvian indigenous nations, the European Parliament and close to 100 cities and sub-national governments around the world, including Quibdó in Colombia, is gaining momentum.
At COP 28 and at the center of international climate debates, Colombia could confirm its climate leadership and become not only a national, but also a global “force for life” (“Potencia de vida”).
We, scientific experts and civil society leaders, join the demands of local movements and grassroots communities in the hope of seeing two important announcements from Colombia at COP 28 or in the near future:
Fulfill the commitment from the platform taken to the 2022 election to "ban the exploration and exploitation of unconventional oil fields, and stop fracking pilot projects and offshore oilfield development", starting by passing the anti-fracking bill.
Publicly join the bloc of governments seeking a negotiating mandate for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, becoming the first Latin American nation-state to join the growing number of countries spearheading the proposal globally.
From the center of international climate debates, Colombia could confirm its climate leadership and become a global powerhouse for life, a beacon of hope promoting a new future that finally leaves fossil fuels in the ground.
Signed by
Naomi Klein, Author and Professor of Geography, University of British Columbia
Kate Raworth, Senior Teaching Associate, University of Oxford
Vanessa Nakate, Ugandan climate activist, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
Dipal Barua, Economist, Founder & Chairman of Bright Green Energy Foundation, Co-Founder of the Grameen Bank
Dr Mabel Bianco, MD Epidemiologist, Fundacion para Estudio e Investigacion de la Mujer (FEIM)
Gaël Giraud, Economist, Professor, Chief Economist and Executive Director of the Research and Knowledge Directorate of the Agence Française de Développement
Ayisha Siddiqa, Youth Advisor to UN Secretary-General, TIME Magazine Woman of the Year 2023
Tom Bk Goldtooth, Indigenous Environmental Network
Eric Njuguna, Fridays For Future
Alysia Reiner, Actress
Bill McKibben, Professor of Environmental Studies, Third Act
Britt Wray, Director, CIRCLE at Stanford Psychiatry, Stanford University
Carroll Muffett, President, Center for International Environmental Law
Díana Bermudez, British-Colombian Actress
Dr Yamina Saheb, Observatoire français des conjonctures économiques (OFCE), Sciences PO
Giorgos Kallis, Economist, Professor, Institute of Environmental Science and Technology Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ICTA-UAB)
Rev. James Shri Bhagwan, General Secretary, Pacific Conference of Churches
Jason Hickel, Professor Institute for Environmental Science and Technology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (ICTA-UAB
Julia Steinberger, Professor of Ecological Economics, University of Lausanne
Kim Stanley Robinson, Writer, UC San Diego
Liliana Ávila, Human Rights and Environmental Program Director, Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA)
Marion Grau, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion and Society
Mark Z. Jacobson, Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University
Mikaela Loach, It’s Not That Radical School Of Organising
Mitzi Jonelle Tan, Convener, Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines
Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Georgetown University
Paloma Costa, Steering Committee, Youth Climate Justice Fund
Sir Andrew Haines, Professor of Environmental Change and Public Health, Tyler Prize Laureate 2022
Dr Richard Denniss, Economist, Executive Director, The Australia Institute
Sandrine Dixson-Declève, President, Club of Rome
Simon Taylor, Co-Founder & Director, Global Witness
Tasneem Essop, Executive Director, Climate Action Network International
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Alab Ayroso, National Coordinator, Youth Advocates for Climate Action Philippines
Alejandro Jaimes, Activista socioambiental, Corporación Sihyta
Alejandro Valverde-Trávez, Latin American Studies
Alexis Joel Grefa, Estudiante de pedagogía en Artes, Piatua Resiste
André-Yanne Parent, Climate Reality Canada
Andrea Reimer, UBC School of Public Policy and Global Affairs
Ariel Kroon, Independent scholar
Asociación Argentina de Abogados/as Ambientalistas
Augusto Duran Duran, Movimiento Ciudadano frente al Cambio Climático
Alexander Campbell, Tdc Net
Alice Nagy, Parents For Climate Darwin
Amarilys Llanos Navarro, Alianza Contra El Fracking En La Sierra Nevada De Santa Marta
Andrés Gómez, Censat Agua Viva
Alirio Cáceres Aguirre, Meseti (Mesa Ecoteológica Interreligiosa De Bogotá)
Atossa Soltani, Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance
Angela Carter, Memorial University Of Newfoundland And Labrador
Belinda C. Ramírez, Civic, Liberal, and Global Education Fellow, Stanford University
Bonie Sherr Klein, Voice Of Women For Peace
Cesar Gamboa, Director Ejecutivo, Derecho Ambiente y Recursos Naturales DAR
Charles Westerline, Groupe de Réflexion et d'Initiative pour l'Avancement de la Grand'Anse (GRIAG)
Claire Richards, Assistant Professor of Nursing, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility
Daniel Gutiérrez Patiño, CEO & Founder, Saving the Amazon
Daniel Manyasi, Single Mothers Association of Kenya
Dr Daniela Soto, University of Sussex
David D'Angelo, President, Green Party of the Philippines
Deborah McNamara, ClimateVoice, a Project of Tides Center
Diana Maria López Salcedo, Directora, LIMPAL Colombia
Disha A Ravi, Fridays For Future India
Doreen Stabinsky, Professor of Global Environmental Politics, College of the Atlantic
Daniela Mosquera, Rutgers University
David D'angelo, Green Party Of The Philippines
Dr Mark Diesendorf, Unsw Sydney
Elizabeth Barrios, Albion College
Erika Olofsson, Mothers Rebellion for Climate Justice
Felix Creutzig, Professor, Technical University Berlin
Fernando Jorge Oliveira Lino, Filmmaker, Bruma Filmes
Ferran Campillo i López, Comité de Salud Medioambiental de la Asociación Española de Pediatría
Fiona McOwan, BSc. Hons Chemistry, WILPF UK Climate Justice Working Group
Francesco Zanotelli, Università de Messina
Freddie Daley, Researcher, University of Sussex
Garrison Galley, Na
Guy Edwards, University of Sussex
Helena Mullenbach Martinez, 350.Org
Hugo Campos, Licenciado en Gestión Ambiental, Agrupación Vecinos por la Ecología
Isabel Whisson, Head of Policy Initiatives, BRAC
Jens Peters, Universidad de Alcalá
Jim Emberger, New Brunswick Anti-Shale Gas Alliance
Joshua Rector, Fridays for Future Evansville
Julie Forchhammer, Co-founder, Klimakultur
Jean-Pierre Ibucwa Lipanda, Directeur Executif National, Trafffed-rd, Congo
Julien Le Drogo, Co-founder, chilli
Karla Maass Wolfenson, Climate Action Network Latin America
Kaganga John, Director, Kikandwa Environmental Association
Karen Ashikeh, Earth Neighborhood Productions
Karen Wristen, Executive Director, Living Oceans Society
Kayanga Peter, Director, Disability Peoples Forum Uganda
Kenneth Nana Amaoateng, AbibiNsroma Foundation
Kimberly M. White, Founder and CEO, The Planetary Press
Lara Montesinos Coleman, Universidad De Sussex, Reino Unido
Laura Morales, Ecologa especialista en gestion ambiental urbana, Citizens' Climate Lobby Colombia
Leah Redwood, Extinction Rebellion San Francisco Bay Area
Liliana Buitrago, Researcher, Investigadora y Artivista, Pacto Ecosocial e Intercultural del Sur
Mariah Alatipi, Founder, Far Out
Mateo Maldonado Aldana, Lawyer, Resistir Glencore Colombia
Maria Carolina Gonzalez, Human Conet
María Alejandra Santos, Naturale
Micheal Ssemujju, Queer Youth Uganda
Michael Gismondi, Athabasca University
Michael Tommy Lewis, Synergia Cooperative Institute
Monica Figueroa, Edmonton Youth For Climate, University of Alberta
Natalia Moncada Ortega, Comunicadora audiovisual, Resistir Glencore
Nathan Taft, Stand.earth
Nick Dearden, Global Justice Now
Nohora Quiguantar, Tejiendo Pensamiento
Pablo Montaño, Conexiones Climáticas
Pacto Ecosocial del Sur
Pacto X El Clima
Paula Marcela Herrera Gomez, Universidad Tecnologica De Pereira (Colombia)
Peggy Ann Spitzer, Ph.D., State University of New York at Stony Brook
Peter Newell, University of Sussex
Pia Carazo, Quantum Leap
Rahmina Paullete Oyugi, Fridays for Future Africa, Kisumu Environmental Champions, Climate Live
Sofía Garcés, Bióloga y creadora de contenido
Stephanie Brancaforte, Rinascimento Green
Stephen Wood, Tools For Solidarity
Suzanne Hume, Educational Director & Founder, CleanEarth4Kids.org
Sunil Pokhrel, Women's Rehabilitation Centre
Tara Deporte, Human Impacts Institute
Thomas Allen-Olivar, Resist Glencore
Tori Tsui, Climate Activist, Climate Live & Stop Rosebank
Tzeporah Berman, Stand.earth
Víctor Hugo Peña García, Postdoctorate Research Fellow, Stanford University
Zerdoum Saliha, Expert SDG Algeria