Mary Robinson at the DCU climate conference in April 2024. Image: Kyran O’Brien/DCU
A coalition of prominent world figures including Mary Robinson want the UN Pact for the Future to include a commitment to a ‘fast and fair’ global transition away from fossil fuels.
Former world leaders and Nobel laureates have criticised a draft UN sustainability pact for not mentioning fossil fuels ahead of a global summit in September.
In an open letter published today (13 August), 77 world leaders and Nobel laureates – including former Irish President Mary Robinson and the 14th Dalai Lama – said they are “gravely concerned” that recent negotiations in the UN led to the removal any reference to fossil fuels from the first draft of a Pact for the Future document.
“The extraction and burning of fossil fuels is the primary cause of the climate crisis, fuelling extreme weather, fires, lethal heat, droughts and flooding that are threatening lives and livelihoods around the planet,” the letter reads.
“Yet this isn’t the end of the carnage – the extraction and burning of fossil fuels undermine all 17 Sustainable Development Goals, including jeopardising public health, fuelling conflict, exacerbating social inequalities and threatening biodiverse ecosystems worldwide.”
Notable Nobel laureates that signed the letter include Pierre Agostini and Ferenc Krausz, who were awarded the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physics – along with Anne L’Huillier – for their research on electrons. Other Nobel Prize-winning signatories include Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna, recipients of the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing the gene editing tool CRISPR/CaS9, and Kailash Satyarthi, who was awarded the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize jointly with Malala Yousafzai for their struggle against the suppression of children.
The open letter comes ahead of Summit of the Future, a UN meeting being held next month that aims to secure a more sustainable and equitable future.
In the letter, signatories argue that in order to achieve the Summit’s intention to “deliver a better present and safeguard the future”, world leaders must commit to a “fast and fair” transition away from fossil fuels.
“We call on the UN to ensure that the Pact for the Future includes robust commitments to manage and finance a fast and fair global transition away from coal, oil and gas extraction in line with the 1.5 degrees Celsius limit agreed to by nations in the Paris Agreement,” the letter reads.
“If the Summit of the Future does not address the threat of fossil fuels, it will not be worthy of its name, risking undermining a once-in-a-century opportunity to restore trust in the power of international cooperation.”
The Paris Agreement recognised 1.5 degrees Celsius as the limit of global heating, above which there is an increased risk of severe climate crisis impacts – including more frequent and severe droughts, heatwaves and other extreme weather events – and the potential to cross critical climate tipping points that may lead to irreversible changes in the climate system.
A study published last month showed that Ireland’s likelihood of experiencing extreme summer temperatures and heatwaves has risen due to the climate crisis.
Other world leaders who signed the letter published by the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative include Muhammad Yunus, recently made chief adviser of Bangladesh and Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2006; Stefan Löfven, former prime minister of Sweden; and Oscar Arias Sanchez, former president of Costa Rica and recipient of the 1987 Nobel Peace Prize.
“The omission of fossil fuels from the draft Pact for the Future is another stark failure to confront one of the greatest threats to our planet and humanity,” said Löfven.
“World leaders should be unequivocal when it comes to acting decisively and collectively to prevent further climate impacts, and instead, they are deciding to bury their heads in the sand. Only through unwavering international cooperation to phase out fossil fuels can we safeguard our common future.”
Updated, 10.57am, 14 August 2024: This article was amended to include further information on Nobel laureate signatories.
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