21 September 2022
For immediate release
Contacts:
- Nicole Rodel – nicole [at] priceofoil.org
- Romain Ioualalen – romain [at] priceofoil.org
Today, a few days after a high level event (1) organized by the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (2) on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York, civil society organizations launch a position paper urging the coalition and its members to deliver on commitments to promote a global phase out of oil and gas production, and turn aspirations into bold and ambitious climate action in line with equity, justice, and science.
The Alliance, one of the most significant and celebrated commitments made at COP26 in November 2021, marked the first time governments formed a diplomatic alliance explicitly aimed at keeping oil and gas in the ground. It demonstrated a growing recognition among national and subnational governments that policies to phase out the production of all fossil fuels are essential to meeting the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
Yet since its launch, BOGA has been missing from the public conversation about energy transition, despite mounting climate impacts and an unprecedented energy upheaval caused by Putin’s war.
In this newly released paper, endorsed by 17 organizations, civil society is outlining 11 key recommendations to ensure BOGA lives up to its potential. Some of the key recommendations include:
- For countries to fully implement their commitment to end new oil and gas exploration and to fully align with limiting warming to 1.5°C by halting approval for any new or planned oil and gas projects as recommended by the International Energy Agency (3), and for Global North members to accelerate their phase out timelines (4).
- To establish a clear timeline after which second tier members will need to meet the requirements of full membership or no longer be members.
- For the alliance to catalyze technical and financial support to Global South producing countries that wish to explore fossil free development pathways
- For countries to build coherence between their domestic commitments to phase out fossil fuel production and their international action by not promoting additional oil and gas production abroad through their diplomacy and investments.
Romain Ioualalen, Global Policy Manager at Oil Change International said:
“The Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance has a choice: drive urgently needed action to phase out fossil fuels or become irrelevant or worse a greenwashing exercise. For BOGA to deliver on its potential, it will need to actively drive stronger commitments from its members, convince a growing number of countries and jurisdictions to end oil and gas exploration and deliver concrete support to Global South countries in getting out of the fossil fuel trap. At a time of a global fossil fuel renaissance, we more than ever need BOGA and its members to stand their ground and to articulate in clear terms that more fossil fuels is not the solution to a fossil fueled economic, social and climate crisis.”
Catherine Abreu, Founder & Executive Director at Destination Zero said:
“BOGA has a big role to play in redefining climate leadership from setting targets to making tangible progress on delivering commitments. 1.5°C will remain out of reach until countries get serious about phasing-out fossil fuel production and phasing in efficient, renewable energy that’s affordable for people. Changing the game means being a player, and we’ve missed BOGA on the field this year. We are eager to see this Alliance emerge as the strong player we know it can be. As BOGA establishes its Secretariat, we put these recommendations forward with our common goals in mind.”
Notes
- www.beyondoilandgasalliance.com
- See https://en.kefm.dk/news/news-archive/2022/sep/denmark-makes-international-push-for-more-offshore-wind-and-a-future-beyond-oil-and-gas
- The International Energy Agency, in its 2021 report “Net Zero by 2050” concluded that “no new oil and natural gas fields are needed” in a 1.5°C energy pathway”
- A recent study from the University of Manchester shows that an equitable phase out of global fossil fuel production would require rich, economically diversified countries to end their production of oil and gas between 2031 and 2034.