PRESS RELEASE, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, 21 October, 2021

Cambridge City Council votes unanimously to endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. 

21 OCTOBER 2021 - Today, the City of Cambridge has passed motions to endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, a global initiative that aims to address the source of 86% of carbon emissions in the past decade: fossil fuels.

Cambridge’s motion, proposed by Green Councillor Hannah Copley, endorsed the Fossil Fuel Treaty and set an action to write to both Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Alok Sharma, COP26 president, urging them to follow suit.

The UK city joins a growing number of communities across the globe calling for a phase out of fossil fuel production. These include Barcelona, Los Angeles and Sydney, who have also endorsed the proposal for a Fossil Fuel Treaty.

Cambridge Councillor Hannah Copley said: " The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report was described as ‘a code red for humanity’ by the Secretary General of the United Nations and we cannot fail to listen to this stark warning. It reaffirmed the vital need for rapid and significant reduction of carbon emissions, and a complete shift in the way we run society if we are to avoid the catastrophic costs of failing to act. Implementation of the proposed global Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation treaty is vital. Continuing coal, oil and gas production, and in fact increasing it, is incompatible with a safe or habitable planet. The UK is the country with the fifth highest cumulative historical CO2 emissions. We have a particular responsibility to decarbonise, for communities in the global south on the frontline of the climate crisis due to our huge contribution to the crisis that affects them today. Here in the UK the government are set to approve Cambo, which is a massive new oil field north-west of the Shetland islands. To be on the brink of approving a new oil field as the host of COP26 is the height of hypocrisy. It makes a mockery of our climate commitments and must not go ahead. "

The vote comes just days before the UK is due to welcome 195 countries to the long-awaited COP26, as hosts of this year’s United Nations climate conference. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has touted the conference as a “turning point for humanity”, framing Britain as boldly leading the way. However, fossil fuel production continues to be the elephant in the room with the UK not having ruled out the possibility of new oil and gas licenses in the North Sea and the approval of drilling at the Cambo oil field, which would produce up to 170 million barrels of oil by 2050.

Richard Folland, Policy & Government Affairs Advisor for the Carbon Tracker Initiative, said: “Cambridge’s endorsement of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty is a critical move signalling to the COP26 host that their constituents are eager to be serious leaders in climate action. There are too many fossil fuels already under production in existing coal mines and oil and gas wells to remain within a 1.5°C budget. The fact that the UK and other countries are even entertaining expansion plans right now is a short-sighted and reckless mis-step which ignores the conclusions of the Production Gap Report published just yesterday.”

Momentum around the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative is growing globally. Recently, the Dalai Lama and 100 other Nobel Laureates called on world leaders to end fossil fuel expansion. This was followed by 2,500+ scientists and academics who have explicitly called for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. 

Priyamvada Gopal, Teaching Fellow at Churchill College, University of Cambridge and signatory to the aforementioned academic letter,  said: “We are in the throes of a climate catastrophe that is not in the future but already unfolding with lethal consequences for millions. Our existence on this planet in the very present depends on an equitable but urgent phasing out of fossil fuels in favour of entirely renewable sources. This treaty is a vital step in that direction.”

In the UK, the campaign is supported by nearly 100 civil society organisations including Carbon Tracker Initiative, Uplift, Divest Parliament, Friends of the Earth Scotland, Music Declares Emergency and UK Youth Climate Coalition.

Media contacts:

Viviana Varin, Senior Communications Associate, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
viviana@fossilfueltreaty.org
+33 6 63 48 52 67

Jemma De Leon, Communications Strategist, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
jemma@fossilfueltreaty.org
+1 909 536 9714