CELEBRATING PACIFIC ISLAND

LEADERSHIP

Mālō e lelei from the Kingdom of Tonga, where we are still celebrating our island nation endorsing and calling for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty! 

In the Pacific the reality of the escalating climate crisis is never lost on us. We see it and we live it everyday. This frontline reality pushes our communities to action, and it pushes our leaders to think and act with ambition. 

At COP21 in Paris, our Pacific leaders fought for 1.5 - the redline that we must not cross if our islands are to continue to thrive. Today, we are seeing global temperatures inch closer and closer towards that red line and we are told that we could see warming rise beyond 1.5 even within the next 5 years. It is a sobering thought and has pushed us to fight even harder.

At COP27 in Egypt last year, Vanuatu and Tuvalu became the first state parties to call for a Fossil Fuel Treaty, continuing that legacy of Pacific leadership on climate, showing the world that we are willing to do what it takes, if only other world leaders would follow suit. 

In March of this year, in the aftermath of back to back cyclones only three days apart, Pacific leaders met in Port Vila, Vanuatu where they called for a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific and the endorsement of a Fossil Fuel Treaty. 

It’s this kind of ambition amidst our adversity that has seen our people thrive on our islands for millenia. And it’s this kind of ambition that we hope will see us thrive on them for millenia more. 

Already we are seeing momentum building in the Pacific. Our leaders, our churches, our Pacific Climate Warriors are all standing up to call for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. 

And as we say in Tonga ‘Ikai ha to’a ‘e tu’u tokotaha' - No warrior stands alone! 

We look forward to walking alongside you all on this journey and to sharing more exciting updates from the Pacific.
​​​​​
Joseph Sikulu
Managing Director
350.org Pacific

TONGA PUBLICLY ANNOUNCES SUPPORT FOR A FOSSIL FUEL TREATY AT REGIONAL MINISTERIAL IN VANUATU​​​​​

The Kingdom of Tonga formally called on all Pacific nations to join a bloc of governments who are seeking a negotiating mandate to develop a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, at the Fifth Pacific Regional Energy and Transport Ministers' Meeting in Port Vila, Vanuatu, where delegations from Pacific Island Countries discussed how to accelerate the decarbonisation of the region’s energy and transport sectors. “A new global treaty can provide the framework for finance, technological support and knowledge sharing needed to ensure a just transition away from coal, oil and gas across the Pacific and in the world,” said Tonga’s Prime Minister, Hon. Hu'akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni.

At the closing of the week-long meeting, Ministers and senior officials also agreed on the Efate Outcome Statement, which urges governments to enable and implement the Port Vila Call for a Just Transition for a Fossil Fuel Free Pacific, as well as consider the development of initiatives within it such as the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. This initiative was first spearheaded by Vanuatu and Tuvalu only 2 months prior, and endorsed by a block of 6 Pacific countries including Tonga, Fiji, Solomon Islands, and Niue.

CALIFORNIA SENATE TAKES BOLD STEP TOWARDS SUPPORTING A FOSSIL FUEL TREATY

The California Senate recently passed the SJR 2 resolution, calling for President Biden to support Pacific nation states seeking a negotiating mandate for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. The motion was introduced by California Senate Majority Whip Senator Lena A Gonzalez, and co-sponsored by Indigenous Environmental Network and Stand.earth. Gonzalez said, “We can prevent further harm to our communities, and that is why I thank my colleagues in the Senate for supporting SJR 2 and urge my colleagues in the Assembly to do the same, so that our nation can be a part of the solution, to forge strong unity and commitment to phasing out the use of fossil fuels.”

MAYORS AROUND THE WORLD LAUNCH DECLARATION CALLING FOR A FOSSIL FUEL TREATY

Many subnational leaders on the Board of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (GCoM), have come out in support of the Fossil Fuel Treaty, and are encouraging others within the network to join them. GCoM is the largest global alliance for city climate leadership consisting of over 12,500 member cities, and representing over 800 million people.

The effort was spearheaded by board member Lord Mayor Anna Reynolds of Hobart, Australia, who says, “As Mayors, we are local leaders dealing with climate impacts today and we’re helping our communities deal with the disruption. We understand that an end to fossil fuels needs to happen as soon as possible.” She adds, “A Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty is the best way for this to happen.” 

Since then, four other local leaders have endorsed the call as part of the Mayors’ Declaration, including Makati, the central financial district of the Philippines, Menjez in Lebanon, our first city endorsement in the Middle East, Heidelberg in Germany, and Kloto-1 in Togo, the first African city to support the call for a Treaty. They join a growing list of 86 cities on every continent who are backing the proposal for an international agreement to end the fossil fuel era.

G7 LEADERS CALL FOR THE EXPANSION OF FOSSIL FUELS

At the G7 Summit, leaders from the seven wealthiest nations in the world once again failed to address the climate emergency by justifying the expansion of fossil fuels. The Summit was held in Hiroshima, a location symbolic for its focus on world peace through nuclear disarmament, due to the atomic bombing in 1945. Instead of living up to the promise of peace, leaders chose to go against their own commitments and proliferate today’s biggest weapons of mass destruction—coal, oil and gas, by framing gas expansion as “appropriate.”

Svitlana Romanko, Director of Razom We Stand slammed the decision, stating, “The first step further would be to support a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, the missing legal mechanism that could prevent today's multiple Hiroshimas and help build a world based on justice and peace.”

Religious leaders and people of diverse religions also decried the outcome statement, and demanded G7 Prime Ministers to stop supporting new fossil fuel projects, domestically and internationally, and to commit to developing a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty in an Open Letter for Peace With the Planet. “No religion teaches that it is right to violently destroy the planet. Yet that is exactly what the continued development and production of fossil fuels does,” said the Rev. Fletcher Harper, Executive Director of GreenFaith, one of the organisations that signed the letter. “G7 leaders missed again the opportunity to act now. As the world’s most advanced economies, they have a unique moral responsibility to take action first.”

IN THE MEDIA

• In celebration of AAPI Heritage Month, Teen Vogue interviewed the Pacific Climate Warriors on rising seas, hope and organising for climate action. Suluafi Brianna Fruean talked about how the Pacific is leading the charge for the Fossil Fuel Treaty through the Port Vila Call for a Fossil Free Pacific, saying “By having other countries sign the treaty, we can all work toward that common goal.”

• Their feature also appeared on The Olympian and Centre Daily Times.

• Multiple regional outlets such as RNZ, Pasifika News, PINA, Matangi Tonga, EnviroNews Nigeria, and Vanuatu Daily Post picked up the news on Tonga’s public announcement of their support for the Fossil Fuel Treaty at the Transport & Energy Ministers Meeting in Vanuatu.

• Corporate Knights published a feature on Warsaw’s stand against fossil fuels as the first city in Central Europe to sign onto the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty proposal. Michael Poland, Campaign Director of the Treaty, says that “we applaud the valiant efforts of generations of Polish climate activists [who] demonstrated that climate progress is attainable through collective action.”

• Philippine press was keen on Makati Mayor Abby Binay’s endorsement of the Treaty, with coverage from Metro News Central, Politiko, and an op-ed penned by the mayor herself published on Pilipino Star Ngayon. She said, “The conversation on climate change is for everyone. It does not depend on the basis of academic or social stature stature to have concern for the environment, and act substantially to correct our wrongdoings.”

• In their monthly column, Feminism in India wrote about how the climate crisis affects migration, mentioning that Ministers from Pacific island nations endorsed the Fossil Fuel Treaty because their nations are rapidly sinking.

• resilience posted a feature on the Beyond Growth Conference, recognising the efforts of governments to implement measures of sustainable wellbeing and the policies needed to achieve them, including a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

• The World Health Federation released a statement at the 76th World Health Assembly mentioning the support of WHO and 300 other health organisations for a Fossil Fuel Treaty, “on account of the health, polluting, and longer-term climate impacts of fossil fuel dependence.”

• Religious leaders Tomohiko Aishima of Soka Gakkai International and Shahin Ashraf of Islamic Relief penned a piece for InDepth News entitled, “For the Sake of Peace, We Need a Fossil Fuel Treaty.”

• NCR Online also picked up the faith groups reactive to the G7 news, including Pope Francis’ message for the 2023 World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation calling on world leaders to “end the era of fossil fuels.” The proposed Fossil Fuel Treaty "holds great promise to complement and enhance the Paris Agreement," said Jesuit Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

• The Church Times said this level of public engagement on the G7 meeting “reflects growing, global religious concern about the climate crisis, and is placing new possibilities, such as the Fossil Fuel Treaty, in the line of sight of people of faith and goodwill on every continent.”

• The Cairo Review of Global Affairs published two essays mentioning the Treaty. The first tackled the need for transformative institutions and courageous leadership at COP27, while the second featured an interview with Dr. Jennie Stephens, Dean of Sustainability Science and Policy at Northeastern University, who named Treaty as one of the most inspiring and effective in climate leadership.

• Vanuatu's Climate Change Minister, Ralph Regenvanu spoke to The Standard on the campaign for an International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on Climate Change, stating: “The decision could also accelerate the adoption of other initiatives such as the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and adding the crime of ecocide to international law.”

• El Mostrador delved into how Andrew Simms - creator of the concept of the ecological overshoot - warned over 6 years ago that our planetary roadmap is headed for collapse, and is now one of the main leaders calling for a global Fossil Fuel Treaty.

• Filipino Treaty champion Mitzi Jonelle Tan spoke to preen.ph about climate justice, and why we need to stop all new expansion of fossil fuel industries in the Philippines and internationally.

• Dax Dasilva sat down for an interview with South Africa Today to talk about how his conversation with Tzeporah Berman, who was a “luminary hero” to him as a teenager, contributed to his climate journey through her work with the Treaty and her activism in Canada.

SOCIALS WORTH SHARING

• Voyager Pacific produced two new videos about the campaign’s most recent wins within the Pacific region:

  • 5th Pacific Regional Transport and Energy Ministers Meeting at Port Vila, Vanuatu

  • Visit to the Kingdom of Tonga to meet with the elders and the Pacific Climate Warriors about supporting the Port Vila Call

• 6 major faith institutions endorsed the call for a Fossil Fuel Treaty in an open letter to G7 leaders urging them to do the same.

• 130+ U.S. Members of Congress and EU Parliamentarians demand decision makers and world governments to #KickBigPollutersOut from UN Climate Talks.

• The Treaty initiative published a blog for the launch of its new business engagement programme.

• For World Biodiversity Day, we released a 'What the F?' feature on how oil exploration in the Okavango Delta is threatening water routes of the world's largest elephant herd in Africa.

• The Garbage Queen posted a reel encouraging her audience to endorse the Fossil Fuel Treaty.

• Hazel Thayer recorded an informative video about how the Fossil Fuel Treaty developed from the nuclear disarmament movement.

• Indigenous Environmental Network released a sound byte of Brenna TwoBears discussing how indigenous communities can use the Treaty as a tool to exercise their sovereign rights.

• Care More Be Better Podcast chatted with Donna Grantis on the power of art in activism, and why she chose to champion the Fossil Fuel Treaty through her music.

REPORTS & UPCOMING EVENTS