GLOBAL POLICY
The Paris climate goals demand a rapid, just transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. We’re pushing governments to lead the way by adopting policies to end oil and gas production.
OVERVIEW OF WORK
In order to achieve climate goals, governments and other decision makers must support a just and equitable move away from fossil fuels. We are pushing for precedent-setting leadership from governments to put policies in place to manage the decline of oil and gas and ensure a just transition for fossil-fuel dependent workers and communities.
Building from a growing group of first mover governments, we are pressuring for increasing numbers of national and regional governments to end new licenses and permits for oil and gas production, and to develop plans to wind down their existing production over time.
LATEST PROGRAM POSTS
New shocking research on climate change has been published. The alarming research is not from a pressure group but published by Britain's Environment Agency, and written by scientists from the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change.
The study, the first of its kind to examine climate change impacts beyond the end of this century, concluded that over the next millennium temperatures could increase by up to 15°C and seas rise by up to 11.4 metres, with vaste swathes of low-lying areas around the world under water.
The report's dire predictions include:
Global and regional warming could more than quadruple after 2100: Temperatures could rise
More on Kyoto: The environment group, Friends of the Earth has said that Governments who signed up to the Protocol are failing to take the necessary action to ensure that emission targets are met.
According to FoE, emissions data from countries who signed up to Kyoto reveal that many are still failing to bring carbon emissions under control - with emissions in Italy, Canada, and Austria all increasing since 1990. UK emissions are also now rising - putting the UK's Kyoto commitments in jeopardy.
Mike Childs, Head of Campaigns at FoE argues: "The UK likes to claim world leadership on climate change.
For nearly fifty years Shell has been flaring gas in the Niger Delta in vast quantities. The practice is a major cause of greenhouse gas emissions, and a major source of air, noise and light pollution for the people of the Niger Delta. It causes huge resentment amongst the communities who bear the brunt of oil exploration. In a ground-breaking ruling, on 14 November last year a Nigerian Court ordered Shell to stop gas flaring in Iwherekan, in the Niger Delta.
So far, Shell has not done so.
Now Friends of the Earth has set up a website where you can email
Tomorrow is the first Anniversary of the UN Kyoto Protocol taking effect.
A year on the Protocol is fundamentally weakened by the Bush Administration's refusal to sign up to it. However some parts of the agreement are booming - especially carbon trading.
Carbon dioxide is now one of the world's fastest-growing markets, worth as much as 34 billion euros (40.2 billion dollars) annually by the end of this decade, according to some analysts.
"The carbon market is going very well. We've seen tremendous growth this year," argues Henrik Hasselknippe, senior analyst at Point Carbon, a firm that monitors the CO2 pollution business. Much
LATEST PROGRAM RESEARCH
Summary:
Governments have spent over $20 billion – and have approved up to $200 billion more – of public money on carbon capture and storage (CCS), providing a lifeline for the fossil fuel industry.
79% of operating carbon capture capacity globally sends captured CO2 to produce more oil (via Enhanced Oil Recovery).
Many of the largest CCS projects in the world overpromise and under-deliver, operating far below capacity.
Oil and gas companies, and some governments, are more interested in looking like they are acting on climate change than actually acting on climate change. They spend billions on smoke and mirrors, such as:
“carbon capture and storage”,
“certified gas”, and
ammonia co-firing, and hydrogen,
to make us believe that they are coming up with solutions for a livable planet when, in reality, they are trying to build escape hatches to suck every last ounce of profit out of their dirty fossil fuel business. These companies and their lobbyists are counting on adding loopholes in the final UN Climate Change Conference
Download the briefing in English or Japanese.
Despite the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels, Japan is driving the expansion of liquified gas (LNG) and other fossil-based technologies like ammonia co-firing across Asia and globally. This will worsen the climate crisis and harm communities and ecosystems. Communities and movements are rising up – particularly in the Global South – to oppose Japan’s efforts to derail the transition to renewable-based energy systems.
The Japanese government is the world’s second-largest provider of international public finance for fossil fuels and the world’s largest provider of international public finance for gas. Japan has continued financing international fossil fuel projects this year, breaking