22 March 2024 – The Copenhagen Climate Ministerial will gather around 40 climate leaders and Ministers from around the world to push for climate action and an ambitious COP29 result. It will focus on implementation of the groundbreaking commitments from COP28 while setting the course for COP29 in Azerbaijan in November.

Alex Rafalowicz, Director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative, said: ““COP 28 set an expectation that the world would transition away from fossil fuels. The Ministers meeting in Copenhagen has to pave the way for COP29 and work out how to turn those words into action. The future will be one free of fossil fuels and we need to develop a roadmap to get there as fast as possible and to kick those who want to drag us into the past out of the way.

The sobering revelation from the State of Global Climate report confirming 2023 as the hottest year on record by a clear margin, serves as a stark reminder that the cost of the existing fossil fuel system is far higher in lost lives than the costs of transition. 

This year, we need bold leadership on accelerating away from these deadly fuels. Ministers must commit to clear national targets on fossil fuel exit and how they are supporting the transition globally. Many of the Ministers attending have already endorsed the call for a Fossil Fuel Treaty to complement the Paris Agreement. The impacts of the climate crisis show we need all hands on deck and all possible approaches to confront the climate emergency.

A Fossil Fuel Treaty offers the needed framework for international cooperation that can actually go beyond words by addressing the root cause of climate change and transitioning away from fossil fuels in a just and equitable way for every region and community across the world.”