"The U.N. secretary-general's speech echoes the call from people from across the world today demanding an end to the era of fossil fuels," said Alex Rafalowicz, executive director of the Fossil Fuel Nonproliferation Treaty Initiative. "The time for rhetoric, empty promises, and greenwashing is over."
"Governments must work together to put in place an action plan to move away from dependence on oil, gas, and coal in the fairest and fastest way possible," Rafalowicz added. "We will be on the streets to ensure peoples' demands are carried into the negotiation halls in September. Climate impacts are escalating, fossil fuel corporations are digging in, but people are stepping up to end fossil fuels; fair, fast, and forever.
Guterres' remarks came as negotiators finished gathering in the German city of Bonn to prepare for COP28. global policy lead Romain Ioualalen said Thursday that "this speech by the U.N. secretary-general is a wake-up call for the countries that wasted two weeks arguing over procedural matters at the Bonn climate conference instead of charting a path towards a COP28 decision to phase out fossil fuels.
"Countries must step up and fulfill the promises they made in Paris in 2015 to halt fossil fuel expansion and agree to a fair, fast, and full transition away from oil, gas, and coal and towards renewables," Ioualalen continued. "Over 70 countries have called for a COP28 decision on fossil fuel phaseout in Bonn. Countries like Colombia and the members of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance are doing the hard work of implementing measures to keep oil and gas in the ground.
"The contrast between this leadership and the actions of the world's biggest historic polluter, the United States, could not be more striking," he argued, adding that under President Joe Biden, "the U.S. has failed in its responsibility to lead a global and just transition away from fossil fuels and avert further climate disaster and has instead actively promoted fossil fuel expansion including with public money."a letter Thursday to Biden and leaders of key U.S.