Leader: World needs pact against fossil fuels
Poorer nations calling for climate action, aid
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt —
The world should confront climate change the way it does nuclear weapons, by agreeing to a nonproliferation treaty that stops further production of fossil fuels, an island nation leader urged Tuesday.
The proposal by Tuvalu came as vulnerable nations pushed for more action and money at international climate talks in Egypt, while big polluters remained divided over who should pay for the damage industrial greenhouse gas emissions have done to the planet.
“We all know that the leading cause of climate crisis is fossil fuels,” Tuvalu Prime Minister Kausea Natano told his fellow leaders.
The Pacific country has “joined Vanuatu and other nations calling for a fossil fuels nonproliferation treaty,” Natano said. “It’s getting too hot and there is very (little) time to slow and reverse the increasing temperature. Therefore, it is essential to prioritize fast-acting strategies.”
Vanuatu and Tuvalu, with other vulnerable nations, have been flexing their moral authority against the backdrop of recent climate-related disasters. The idea of a nonproliferation treaty for coal, oil and natural gas has been advanced by campaigners, religious authorities including the Vatican, and some scientists, but Natano’s speech gave it a boost in front of a global audience.
A year ago at climate talks in Glasgow, a proposal to call for a “phase out” of coal — the dirtiest of the fossil fuels — was changed at the last minute to “phase down” by a demand from India, earning the wrath of vulnerable countries.
Since then the global energy crunch triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine has prompted a scramble by some countries and companies seeking to tap fresh gas and oil sources.
Pushing back against that, vulnerable nations also called for a global tax on the profits of fossil fuel corporations that are making billions of dollars daily from sky-high energy prices.