FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Nicole Rodel, Oil Change International – nicole@priceofoil.org
Oil Change International response to IEA Ministerial communique
February 14, 2024 – Ministers from around the world met in Paris this week for the International Energy Agency (IEA) 2024 Ministerial Meeting, and today released a joint communique to “guide the Agency’s mission going forward.”
Taking place just a few months after the UN climate conference in Dubai, where governments around the world agreed for the first time to “transition away from fossil fuels,” today’s communique from the IEA’s 31 member countries lays out mandates on energy security, the fight against climate change, and exploring solutions to mobilize financial flows for clean energy transitions.
Bronwen Tucker, Public Finance lead at Oil Change International responds:
“Today’s commitment to make a finance roadmap to limit warming to 1.5°C and ensure a just energy transition is a welcome step, but in order to be useful, the IEA’s new research must continue with strong recommendations to immediately halt finance flowing to fossil fuels, and start recommending dramatically increased public finance on fair terms for renewable energy and energy efficiency.
“Governments promised to transition away from fossil fuels at COP28, and now they must use every tool, including the IEA, to develop robust plans to deliver the public finance needed to make these promises a reality, with rich countries paying their fair share.
“We have enough public money to ensure a full, fast, fair, and funded fossil fuel phaseout and build a fair and renewable economy in its place – it’s just poorly distributed, flowing to fossil fuels and the super-rich instead of a new economy that benefits us all. This will benefit all of us, freeing up trillions in public funding to build a renewable future where everyone can meet their needs.
“Three years ago the IEA said that to keep global warming below internationally agreed limits there was no room for new oil and gas beyond existing fields. So why are oil and gas companies still at the table but civil society organizations are not? The IEA says it wants to support a just, people-centered energy transition, but just like in this closed door meeting for ministers, we can’t achieve a full, fast, fair, and funded phaseout of fossil fuels without people.”
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