The Progressive

NewsWire

A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact: Lindsay Meiman,Senior U.S. Communications Specialist,lindsay@350.org,us-comms@350.org,+1 347 460 9082,New York, USA

After COP23: "The Ambition Race Is On"

BONN, Germany

As the UN Climate Talks wrap-up in Germany, campaigners with 350.org are looking ahead to a year that will dramatically accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy for all.

350.org Strategy and Communications Director, Jamie Henn issued the following the statement:

"There's one word that needs to define the year ahead: ambition. 2018 will be all about accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy for all. Movements will do our part by stopping new fossil fuel projects, ending dirty finance, and getting as many towns, cities, and regions as possible to commit to 100% renewable energy for all.

"Trump tried to derail these talks by pulling the US out of the Paris Agreement, but COP23, under the Fijian presidency, has put the process firmly back on the tracks bringing into sharp focus the climate urgency the planet is experiencing. Now it's all about speed. More ambition will never come from inside the climate talks, it has to come from the streets. Our job is to get out there and demand the fossil free world that science and justice demand.

"The real news coming out of these talks is what happened outside the negotiating halls: massive protests at Germany's open pit coal mines with Pacific islanders standing in solidarity, governments joining a new initiative to power past coal, Norway's push to ditch oil and gas investments, and the emergence of non-state actors as a powerful force for change. The fight between fossils and renewables is underway and it's a fight we intend to win."

350 is building a future that's just, prosperous, equitable and safe from the effects of the climate crisis. We're an international movement of ordinary people working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all.