We are deep in a fossil fuel crisis literally fueled by the fossil fuel companies. They knew long ago what their product was doing to the atmosphere and they have been obstructing progress.
It has been more than 30 years since the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) began.
I am at the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27). Up until COP 26 last year,. fossil fuels were never mentioned in the key UNFCCC COP documents.
The fossil fuel companies have 636 delegates at COP27. They are everywhere, including the Canadian Pavilion.
Meanwhile, 14 Pacific islands at threat from sea level rise have 502 delegates between them here at COP27: the Cook Islands, Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Marshall Islands, Palua, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
This is so unbalanced and thus doomed to failure.
There are reports African nations here at COP27 say they need fossil fuels. This is just not true. There is a path forward. All we need now is courage. The answer is action, not cynicism or defeat. The action must be with others from as broad of a base as possible.
On Thursday, Nov. 10, my family and I went to a party in Sharm-El-Sheikh co-sponsored by the Global Gas and Oil Network (GGON) and the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty (FFNPT).
In the spring of 2021, I joined the monthly FFNPT calls. Why? We are in a climate emergency and we need to cooperate and listen to the experts.
We need to get directly at the source of the problem: fossil fuels. We need to stay hopeful, realistic, action-oriented and connected, globally. We need talking points that make sense to the politicians and the people.
FFNPT and GGON are developing all of that.
The FFNPT talking points are easy to learn because they follow the rule of threes in their communications strategy and, for the sake of simplicity, never give more than three ideas in a communication or action. They are utterly focused and that is their super power.
The proposed Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty has three pillars:
- Non-proliferation: Prevent the proliferation of coal, oil and gas by ending all new exploration and production.
- A fair phose-out: Phase-out existing production of fossil fuels in line with the 1.5C global climate goal.
- Just transition: Fast-track real solutions and a just transition for every worker, community and country.
At the FFNPT-GGON party, many activists from all over the world were there. The FFNPT has many endorsers including the EU Parliament and the World Health Organization (WHO), many religious umbrella groups including the Vatican, parliamentarians and more than 60 cities. At the party, it was reported that their collective represents 1.2 billion people.
My husband and many local doctors hope that Health Sciences North follows the lead of the WHO and endorses the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. My daughter, Sophia, hopes Greater Sudbury city council becomes the first city in Northern Ontario and third city in Ontario to endorse it.
No one country is going to just stop producing fossil fuels. It is too risky for any country's economy to unhook from developing their fossil resources.
Look at what Putin is doing to Europe and the world. We need a measured retreat from fossil fuels now, just like we had for nuclear weapons 50 years ago with United Nations Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The retreat from fossil fuels must leave no one behind. The FFNPT has momentum. I hope you all support it in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada and all around the world.
If you want to find out more about FFNPT and what has happened at COP 27 join my husband, Dr. Sanjiv Mathur, daughter Sophia and I at 10 a.m. EST on Zoom on Friday, Nov. 18 to learn more. Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas and Sudbur MP Viviane Lapointe have already expressed interest that they are attending and so has one high school class. All are welcome.
You can register for the Zoom event here.
Sudbury’s Cathy Orlando is the international outreach manager for Citizens’ Climate Lobby. She, along with her husband, Dr. Sanjiv Mathur, and daughter, Sophia Mathur, a young climate activist, are observers at the COP27 in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt from Nov. 7-18.
