Colombia has shown the way at COP28. Unlike Rishi Sunak

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Hi John,
Over the last few days here at COP28 we’ve seen the best and worst of global leadership on the climate crisis.

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak flew in on Friday on a private jet, made a series of comments claiming the UK deserved more credit for its past emissions reductions, and then jetted out again.

The prime minister failed to say anything about the need for a fossil fuel phase out, offered a pittance in climate loss and damage funding for the global south, and barely even bothered to defend his continued expansion of North Sea oil and gas. Rishi Sunak’s self-satisfied flying visit was an insult to the world.

By contrast, Colombian president Gustavo Petro took a brave step on Sunday when he announced his country’s support for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, the growing initiative for a global exit plan from fossil fuels.

Colombia’s endorsement of the Fossil Fuel Treaty was particularly significant because it is a coal, oil and gas producing country. Despite fossil fuels making up about half of Colombia’s exports, Petro insisted there is no alternative to a fossil fuel phase out: “Today we face an immense confrontation between fossil capital and human life. And we must choose a side. Any human being knows that we must choose life. I have no doubt which position to take”.

More and more leaders are coming on board with this idea. But we need rich polluting countries like the UK to start taking it seriously. With an election due next year, can you join our call on all the party leaders to back a Fossil Fuel Treaty now?
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** The fossil fuel industry is the problem
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COP28 is heading towards a showdown on the question of ‘phasing out’ fossil fuels. As UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said: “The science is clear: The 1.5°C warming limit is only possible if we ultimately stop burning fossil fuels. Not reduce. Not abate. Phase out.”

Yet comments reported over the weekend by COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber – who unbelievably is also CEO of the UAE’s state oil company – that there is “no science” saying a fossil fuel phase out is necessary, show we have our work cut out.

Yesterday the Kick Polluters Out of COP coalition, of which we’re part, calculated that there are more than 2,400 fossil fuel lobbyists here at COP28 – a vast figure that outnumbers delegates from the 10 most climate-vulnerable countries combined, and is multiple times the number of official Indigenous delegates.

Yet the growing willingness of national governments to back the Fossil Fuel Treaty shows that this industry is not having it all its own way. 11 governments on 4 continents now back the treaty – and support is growing every day.

As COP28 continues over the next week, we’ll be pushing for the UK to take the need for a fossil fuel phase-out seriously, as well as an ambitious target for the Loss and Damage Fund, which was formally established on Friday in a rare bit of positive news. But we need to push the UK to go further, at COP28 and beyond. So please join our campaign by signing our petition to the party leaders to support the Fossil Fuel Treaty today.
Sign now ([link removed])
Thanks for everything you’re doing.

Izzie McIntosh
Climate campaigner, Global Justice Now

Read more
1. Sunak's self-satisfied flying visit is an insult to the world ([link removed]) , Global Justice Now, 1 December 2023,
2. Colombia joins international alliance calling for treaty to end use of fossil fuels ([link removed]) , Guardian, 2 December 2023
3. Cop28 president says there is ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels ([link removed]) , Guardian, 3 December 2023
4. Record number of fossil fuel lobbyists get access to Cop28 climate talks ([link removed]) , Guardian, 5 December 2023
5. Global loss and damage fund a 'welcome, yet long overdue' step forward ([link removed]) , Global Justice Now, 30 November 2023
6. How King Charles’s COP28 speech clashes with Sunak’s environment policy ([link removed]) , iNews, 1 November 2023
** Big change comes from resilient, empowered and informed movements
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