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vanessa nakate
Industry-Dominated COP28 'Unacceptable,' Says Vanessa Nakate
"As time runs out in Dubai, it feels as though the lifeboat of our shared humanity is sinking."
Dec 12, 2023
As negotiators worked on the final agreement at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, Ugandan campaigner Vanessa Nakate on Tuesday called out world leaders for continuing decades of inadequate action on planet-heating fossil fuels at COP28.
While the United Arab Emirates-hosted summit winds down, "I find myself thinking of a 6-year-old boy called Desmond I met in Turkana county, Kenya, who died from severe acute malnutrition on the same day," Nakate, also an author and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) goodwill ambassador, wrote in a Guardian opinion piece.
"His death was the result of a climate-induced drought that has left millions of people on the brink of starvation in the Horn of Africa," she explained. "I want the negotiators deciding the outcome of COP28 to know Desmond's story. Because in the end, the climate crisis is not about pledges, statistics, reports, or activists. It's about human suffering and ruined lives. It's about death."
The draft COP28 deal released Monday fails to mention a fossil fuel phaseout that global scientists warn is necessary to prevent more climate chaos. According to Agence-France Presse, Nakate called the latest text a "death sentence for communities."
"It can be tiring to keep coming to these places and to be constantly disappointed by the decisions that are made," the campaigner said during a Tuesday press conference. "For this COP to be truly a success, it has to address fossil fuels."
"If leaders fail to address the root cause of the climate crisis after 28 years of climate conferences, then they aren't only failing us, but they're making us lose trust in the entire COP process," the 27-year-old said. "What is happening here is unacceptable. What is happening is unjust. What is happening is unfair."
"There are over 2,400 fossil fuel lobbyists that have a lot of control and power over this process," Nakate noted. "And we must call out that sabotage, we must call out the power. We must hold the fossil fuel companies accountable for the climate crisis."
In remarks to reporters and her Guardian piece, she stressed the stakes by describing the draft text as "sinking the lifeboat for humanity."
"As time runs out in Dubai, it feels as though the lifeboat of our shared humanity is sinking," she wrote for the newspaper. "And fossil fuels are also not the entire story here. The 'home' the majority of us will return to when COP28 is over is not the home we once felt safe in. Many of our homelands are already being decimated by extreme weather. Huge changes are already with us and even more are inevitable—even if countries had agreed to a fossil fuel phaseout. So we must adapt."
The Ugandan declared that "COP28 needs to be the COP that finally delivers a Global Goal on Adaptation—a map for the world's attempts at adaptation and clarity on how we will fund them. At an absolute minimum, developed countries need to double adaptation finance to $40 billion per year by 2025."
Noting the "selfish, short-sighted actors... once again sabotaging our collective fate in the name of profit," Nakate argued that "in the final hours of COP28, progressive states and activists need to fight with all we have for a phaseout of all fossil fuels, without distractions. We also need to see a real and tangible outcome on adaptation. They are connected. And neither can be sacrificed for the other."
"To those at COP28, I say this: People around the world are watching you—including people who have watched their children die as a direct result of your decades of inaction," she warned. "There is nowhere to hide."
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5 Reasons to Phase Out Fossil LNG
People and our planet should not bear the brunt of the socioeconomic, human rights, and environmental harms of expanding global LNG trade.
Dec 06, 2023
Liquefied natural gas, or LNG, derived from cooling fossil gas to store and transport over long distances, is part of the array of fossil fuels standing in the way of climate progress. Its expansion is derailing efforts to keep global warming below 1.5°C.
Industry likes to call it “transitional” or a “bridge” fuel, but endorsing it that way is detrimental, especially when LNG is neither clean nor low in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Both people and our planet should not bear the brunt of the socioeconomic, human rights, and environmental harms of expanding global LNG trade.
Energy Insecurity Caused by Fossil LNG
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine contributed significantly to the global LNG industry’s resurgent growth and social license to operate. Under the guise of “energy security,” the United States worked closely with European allies to supply LNG amid sanctions on Russian gas. Yet continued fossil fuel dependency makes us energy insecure, especially when soaring prices of fossil gas are passed on to households.
LNG is neither a secure nor reliable fuel source, particularly for less wealthy countries.
As millions of Europeans are struggling to afford their energy bills, anti-gas campaigners are exposing the fossil gas industry’s culpability in Europe’s cost of living crisis. This is a critical juncture for European leaders to achieve true energy security by focusing on scaling up renewable energy deployment and energy efficiency gains. Decoupling from Russian gas should ultimately signal an end to extractive fossil gas industries in Europe.
Derailing Energy Access in Developing Countries
When LNG prices surge, energy access in many developing countries is compromised. Last year, the breakdown in the long-term LNG supply from Eni forced Pakistan to purchase LNG at high spot market prices, further jeopardizing its economy. Similarly, Bangladesh had to suspend purchases of LNG, leading to frequent power outages and a decrease in national industrial output. In such volatile market conditions, LNG is neither a secure nor reliable fuel source, particularly for less wealthy countries.
Continued extraction of fossil gas perpetuates energy inequity for large segments of the population, especially for the millions without reliable access to energy. In Africa, extracting fossil LNG and gas is touted as the panacea for energy poverty and development in the region. But 92% of the $103 billion channeled into gas-rich countries—such as Mozambique, Nigeria, and Tanzania—is earmarked for LNG export terminals. Gas extracted from the African continent benefits Europe’s short-lived dash for gas, and not the 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who live without access to electricity.
As youth climate activist Vanessa Nakate has said, African countries that are persuaded to pursue fossil gas projects could face economic instability when demand for gas dries up. The message from the Don’t Gas Africa movement is clear: Reversing the systemic energy inequality faced by Africa’s poor and rural communities must be achieved through sustainable development of renewable energy and not through ill-gained LNG profits.
Fossil LNG Expansion Violates Human Rights
Violence afflicts the global value chain of fossil gas extraction, transport, liquefaction, and shipment of LNG. North American LNG exporters liquefy the region’s abundant fracked methane gas, which has devastating implications for air pollution and water contamination. The LNG Canada project, the country’s first export terminal, has faced significant resistance in its development. Indigenous land defenders from Wet’suwet’en territory have opposed TC Energy’s Coastal GasLink project, the pipeline intended to supply LNG Canada with fossil gas. Hereditary chiefs faced intimidation and militant action against them as they strove to protect their unceded, Indigenous homelands from the devastating impacts of gas expansion.
Deteriorating Community Health and Social Damage
Many new areas of sacrifice arise in LNG importing and exporting countries, compromising the health of marginalized and disadvantaged communities. LNG terminals release harmful air pollutants—such as volatile organic compounds, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter—that can contribute to increased incidences of respiratory disease, heart disease, and cancer.
Along the U.S. Gulf Coast, many communities are living at the epicenter of U.S. LNG export infrastructure development. Roishetta Ozane, an environmental justice champion, has called for the end to Louisiana’s LNG expansion that is disproportionately compromising the health and livelihoods of communities of color. Meanwhile, in neighboring Mexico, developers are planning to re-export natural gas from the Permian Basin that is imported into the country via pipeline. More than 6 billion cubic feet per day (bcf/d) of LNG projects in development in Mexico would enable U.S. Permian gas to reach demand in Asia faster by bypassing the Panama Canal. Such build-out could result in similar social and community health risks In Mexico. In addition, three of the projects proposed—Saguaro Energía, AMIGO (American Mexican Integrated Gas Operations), and Vista Pacifico—would impact the rich marine biodiversity of the Gulf of California, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Compromising Climate and Biodiversity for Fossil LNG
Alongside the human impacts, we cannot forget the staggering climate and biodiversity threats from LNG expansion. Leaks and intentional releases of methane, the main ingredient in LNG and an extremely potent greenhouse gas, during the extraction and export of LNG can eliminate any climate benefits, even if LNG is used to replace coal in electricity generation. Massive LNG expansions will seriously compromise meeting the 1.5°C Paris agreement goals.
LNG terminals are situated around many biodiversity hot spots and continuous LNG cargo traffic causes significant disturbance to marine life. In Batangas, Philippines, the Verde Island Passage is commonly referred to as the “Amazon of the oceans” because its waters have the highest known concentration of marine life on earth. Eight of the 12 proposed LNG terminals in the Philippines are in Batangas. In the construction of two gas projects, the water quality degraded due to the presence of key pollutants and heavy metals. Simultaneously, the marine ecology in adjacent waters exhibited a reduction in fish biodiversity and abundance.
Developing LNG comes at too high a cost on multiple fronts. LNG should be phased out in tandem with other fossil fuels, paving the way for renewable energy to meet international climate and sustainable development goals. Join NRDC to stand in solidarity with its global partners campaigning to put an end to LNG expansion.
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Sultan Al-Jaber Must Transform From Oil Executive to Global Climate Leader at COP28
It is hard not to be deeply sceptical of the idea that the head of an oil company will be able to drive the 28th summit of COP towards an outcome which gives the world hope about its future in the shadow of a devastating climate crisis.
Jun 02, 2023
There is a big difference between national leaders and global leaders. The former push national interests on the global stage, often using the rhetoric of global solutions. The latter carry a vision that extends beyond personal interests, election cycles or profit margins to do the best for humanity.
The position of president of the Conference of the Parties (COP), the United Nations’ annual climate summit, requires a global leader. This year’s conference will be held in the United Arab Emirates under the presidency of Sultan al-Jaber, CEO of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company.
It is hard not to be deeply sceptical of the idea that the head of an oil company will be able to drive the 28th summit of COP towards an outcome which gives the world hope about its future in the shadow of a devastating climate crisis. That is because fossil fuels account for 75% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and, in order to have some hope, we must end the use of oil, gas, and coal in a rapid and just manner.
This year’s summit must signal the beginning of this rapid shift away from fossil fuels, towards clean energy. To do this, the UAE has to facilitate an agreement between the world’s nations on phasing out all fossil fuels.
Unfortunately, with only six months to go until COP28 begins in Dubai, al-Jaber is living up to widespread low expectations. In a speech earlier this month, he spoke of “phasing out fossil fuel emissions”—a reference to using carbon capture and storage technology to reduce the emissions from burning fossil fuels, instead of phasing out fossil fuels themselves.
Such an approach is unrealistic and incompatible with the Paris Agreement. The United Nations has made it clear that the world needs to cut its emissions by 45% by 2030 to have a chance at staying under the 1.5°C. warming threshold. Currently, carbon capture and storage technology is highly expensive and simply does not exist at the necessary scale to make even a scratch on that target. We do not have time for fairy-tale solutions designed to save the oil and gas industry.
The U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has called investing in new fossil fuel projects “moral and economic madness.” The International Energy Agency says we cannot afford to put in any new finance for coal, oil, or gas if we are to meet net-zero targets; instead, we need a massive deployment of renewable energy. The science is clear and the goal is clear, but we are still missing the global leadership to take us there.
COP28 must change that. For too long, U.N. climate summits have ignored the central cause of the climate crisis; no longer can they afford to. This year’s summit must signal the beginning of this rapid shift away from fossil fuels, towards clean energy. To do this, the UAE has to facilitate an agreement between the world’s nations on phasing out all fossil fuels.
COP28 also needs to ensure that finance going to the Global South to fund this transition is massively increased. Currently, Africa has 39% of the world’s potential for renewable energy, yet it receives just 2% of global investment in the sector.
COP28 should also secure real money for the Loss and Damage Fund which was agreed upon at COP27 and which still sits empty despite increasingly devastating climate events hitting the poorest countries.
Still, funding for loss and damage will never be enough to compensate for the chaos and destruction that the climate crisis will cause if we keep burning fossil fuels.
That is why we cannot have a COP presidency that puts national or corporate interests over the interests of humanity. In taking on this role, al-Jaber has promised to represent us all. His priority must be people—and particularly the people suffering the worst effects of climate change—not the fossil fuel industry.
In East Africa, the climate crisis is having a devastating impact. Last September, I went to Turkana, Kenya, with UNICEF to visit children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Twenty million people are currently facing starvation in the region, largely because of an unprecedented drought that, scientists say, was made 100 times more likely by climate change.
In Turkana, I met a six-year-old boy at a hospital where the worst cases of severe acute malnutrition are referred. His grandmother had not been able to access the life-saving care he needed in time. Tragically, he passed away later that same day.
We can no longer prevent the climate crisis, but every fraction of a degree of further warming will make heatwaves more intense, droughts more prolonged, and storms more powerful. Every year that passes without a rapid transformation of our economies away from fossil fuels means more will be lost to the climate crisis.
In June, the world’s climate negotiators will meet in Bonn, Germany, to assess progress towards COP28. Its president, al-Jaber, must head to Bonn with a credible plan for decarbonisation. This will be his opportunity to save countless lives, he must not miss it.
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The Willow Project Was a Key Climate Test. And Joe Biden Failed It.
The rubber-stamping of such a project sends a message not just to our generation but humanity as a whole: The future of our planet and the present well-being of frontline communities are being sacrificed for short-term economic gain and political expediency.
Apr 07, 2023
President Joe Biden’s recent approval of the Willow Project in Alaska has alarmed many young people and once again made us question his seriousness about addressing the climate crisis before it is too late.
His decision to greenlight ConocoPhillips’ massive oil project isn’t just a betrayal of his promises on the campaign trail when he vowed to halt drilling on federal lands and to help the United States make the transition toward clean energy. It’s a betrayal of our generation’s future and of the millions of people suffering the impact of the climate crisis.
As if that were not enough, the Biden administration is auctioning off more than 73 million acres of waters in the Gulf of Mexico to offshore oil and gas drilling — double the size of the Willow Project if it goes ahead as planned. The president faced one of the greatest tests of his commitment to addressing climate change, and he failed. His administration must step up and commit to do better.
As young people who will inherit a burning planet, we are gravely concerned about the long-term impact of the Willow Project and the precedent it sets for future decisions on climate and energy policy.
By the administration’s own estimates, the Willow Project on Alaska’s North Slope is projected to add 9.2 million metric tons of carbon pollution to the atmosphere per year. That’s the equivalent of adding 2 million gas-powered cars to the road every year — potentially for 30 years. Despite the large amounts of emissions that await, the administration — which faces pressure from unions, Alaskan lawmakers and some Native Alaskans who support the project — argues that refusing a permit for the Willow Project would trigger legal issues due to previously issued leases.
However, this decision not only contradicts Biden’s promises but also undermines the steps set forth by last month’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change synthesis report. The IPCC, a panel of experts brought together by the United Nations, made it clear that the world already has too many fossil fuels in production to limit global warming to the relatively safe level of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) unless swift action is taken.
Young people and members of marginalized communities are the ones who will bear the brunt of the consequences of the escalating climate emergency. The rubber-stamping of such a project sends a message not just to our generation but humanity as a whole: The future of our planet and the present well-being of frontline communities are being sacrificed for short-term economic gain and political expediency.
Millions of young people made their concerns about Willow known. Youth-led climate organizations, such as the Sunrise Movement, have been vocal about the potential repercussions of approving Willow, warning that it could turn young voters away from the administration. Young people organized online, pushing the massive oil project to trending status on TikTok the week before Willow’s approval, part of an effort that garnered around 5.6 million messages calling on Biden to reject the plan. But the voices of millions who spurred into action were left gutted on March 13 when Willow was approved.
Greenlighting the project also highlights the glaring disconnect between the administration’s climate rhetoric and actions. While the US has made some landmark investments in clean energy under Biden through the Inflation Reduction Act, the project will undermine these efforts and threaten the fragile Arctic ecosystems, wildlife and Indigenous communities, conservation groups say. What happens in the Arctic doesn’t stay in the Arctic.
Scientists warn us that crossing the threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius could trigger multiple climate tipping points, leading to irreversible and dangerous impacts with serious implications for humanity. The Willow Project, set to produce 600 million barrels of oil and generate roughly 278 million tons of carbon emissions, goes directly against the word of climate scientists.
By supporting the Willow Project, the administration is exacerbating the climate crisis and further jeopardizing the well-being of vulnerable populations.
The impact of climate change is already disproportionately affecting communities in the global South — a crisis they have done little, if anything, to create. Africa, for example, is responsible for about 4% of global emissions. It faces devastating floods, droughts, food scarcity and displacement due to rising sea levels — and the number of people suffering will surge as fossil fuel production continues to expand. By supporting the Willow Project, the administration is exacerbating the climate crisis and further jeopardizing the well-being of vulnerable populations.
As young people who will inherit a burning planet, we are gravely concerned about the long-term impact of the Willow Project and the precedent it sets for future decisions on climate and energy policy. We have said it before and we say it again: We need system change, not climate change. We need people in power who show real climate leadership, who will work with young people and stand by their promises. Considering that the USA is the largest historical emitter of greenhouse gasses, stopping developments like the Willow Project is the bare minimum of what it needs to do.
The US reduction targets are already insufficient for keeping global warming below 1.5°C and we need to see ramped up ambition and accelerated implementation from Biden. He must prioritize the future of our generation, frontline communities and the planet. We urge the president to stick to his word and not commit to funding any new fossil fuel development.
That means stopping the Willow project and ensuring there can be no more of its kind. It is the only way to secure a livable planet for all. It is also a chance to listen to our generation and take the first important steps away from a broken political system where leaders care more about short-term political gain than our collective futureKeep ReadingShow Less
'Tomorrow Is Too Late': Climate Strikers Target Fossil Fuel Financing Worldwide
"The capitalistic system continuously puts profit over people," says Fridays for Future. "The Global North's fossil finance is the cause of the climate crisis, neocolonial exploitation, wars, and human rights violations."
Mar 03, 2023
"It's time to end fossil finance because #TomorrowIsTooLate!"
That's the takeaway message from climate strikers who took to the streets worldwide on Friday to demand an immediate end to the financing of all fossil fuel projects amid a worsening global emergency largely driven by coal, gas, and oil.
"The capitalistic system continuously puts profit over people," the youth-led Fridays for Future movement said in a statement. "Corporations' greed for more profit is driving the destruction of ecosystems and the climate. At the same time, frontline communities are paying the highest price while being the most affected by the climate crisis."
"The Global North's fossil finance is the cause of the climate crisis, neocolonial exploitation, wars, and human rights violations," Fridays for Future continued. Acknowledging the plight of frontline communities, the group argued that "as a global climate justice movement, it is our responsibility to join their fight and amplify their voices and demands."
The international movement—spurred by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who as a teenager engaged in a solitary strike outside her country's parliament—highlighted some specific battles against polluters' exploitation:
From the fight against fracking in the indigenous territories of the Esto'k Gna tribe in North America, to local resistance in Huasteca Potosina in Mexico or Vaca Muerta in Argentina; the resistance against the [East African Crude Oil Pipeline] in Uganda and Tanzania; the fight against gas fields in front of the coast of Senegal or LNG terminals in Mozambique; the resistance of the Peruvian people against deforestation and oil drilling in the Amazon; to local fisher’s fight against TEEPSA in South Africa—all these fights are connected and their cause is finance. Fossil fuel corporations like Shell, TotalEnergies, Repsol, Perenco, or Chevron can only realize these projects because of money that is provided to them by banks, insurers, and investors.
In addition to demanding an end to fossil fuel financing, Fridays for Future is calling on the historically largest emitters of planet-heating pollution and Global North countries to "unconditionally cancel the Global South's financial debt" and provide reparations.
"Ending fossil finance is not a question of technical capacity but it is a matter of political will," the group said. "From voting to civil disobedience, we call on everyone to grassroots organize and act against fossil capitalism through the means of action suitable for them. For climate justice, we need to break the influence of fossil fuel corporations, banks, and insurers."
Various groups including global and local arms of Climate Action Network, Friends of the Earth, World Wide Fund for Nature, and 350.org supported the strike in the streets and on social media, sharing updates from demonstrations with the hashtags #FridaysForFuture, #GlobalClimateStrike, and #TomorrowIsTooLate.
"No action is too small to make a difference," tweeted Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate.
African civil society groups—already pressuring leaders across the continent to ditch plans for further fossil fuel projects—not only joined the global strike but also organized events including "art exhibitions highlighting the role of renewable energy as one of the key solutions to the climate crisis, public dialogue on fossil fuels, and the screening of a documentary on the planned East African Crude Oil Pipeline," according to 350.org.
"The role of financial systems in the climate crisis is undeniable, as they continue to channel huge amounts to the fossil fuel industry, which is destroying our planet as it profits from coal, oil, and gas exploration," declared 350.org regional director Landry Ninteretse. "We are calling on financial institutions involved in fossil projects on the continent, such as the East African Crude Oil Pipeline, to rule out support for such projects."
"In addition, African nations must recognize that phasing out obsolete and harmful fossil fuels and leveraging the renewable energy potential at our disposal is key to keeping catastrophic impacts of the climate crisis at bay," he said. "The just transition powered by clean and decentralized renewables is urgent for Africa as the region most affected and vulnerable to the climate crisis."
"We cannot afford to gamble with the future of our planet and humanity," he warned, "by allowing or supporting the continued expansion of fossil fuels."
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700,000 Sign 'Cease and Desist' Letter to Fossil Fuel CEOs at Davos
The letter, spearheaded by a group of climate leaders including Vanessa Nakate and Greta Thunberg, demands that oil giants stop sabotaging the "clean energy transition we all so urgently need."
Jan 16, 2023
A group of climate leaders from across the globe issued a "cease and desist notice" on Monday directed at fossil fuel CEOs attending this week's World Economic Forum, which environmentalists warn will likely be used by oil and gas interests as another PR opportunity for their planet-wrecking business.
The open letter—penned by Vanessa Nakate of Uganda, Greta Thunberg of Sweden, Helena Gualinga of Ecuador, and Luisa Neubauer of Germany—demands that fossil fuel companies "immediately stop opening any new oil, gas, or coal extraction sites, and stop blocking the clean energy transition we all so urgently need."
At present, the fossil fuel industry is doing the opposite, ramping up oil and gas extraction plans even as scientists call for a rapid phase-out to prevent more catastrophic warming.
The letter, which has been signed by more than 693,000 people as of this writing, continues:
We know that Big Oil:
KNEW for decades that fossil fuels cause catastrophic climate change.
MISLED the public about climate science and risks.
DECEIVED politicians with disinformation sowing doubt and causing delay.
You must end these activities as they are in direct violation of our human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment, your duties of care, as well as the rights of Indigenous people.
"If you fail to act immediately, be advised that citizens around the world will consider taking any and all legal action to hold you accountable. And we will keep protesting in the streets in huge numbers," concludes the letter.
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth and BP chief executive Bernard Looney will be among the Wall Street executives and other corporate elites gathered in Davos, Switzerland for this week's forum, an overview of which acknowledges that the climate crisis is "spiraling out of control"—though it doesn't specify that the oil and gas industry is primarily responsible.
The presence of fossil fuel giants in Davos spurred local protests over the weekend, with demonstrators accusing the industry of "hijacking the climate debate."
Speaking to journalists last week, Nakate said that "it's not hard to be cynical about the prospects for climate justice after spending a week there."
"Oil and gas CEOs are invited into the forum to greenwash their businesses," she said.
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