In 2022, Vanuatu became the first nation-state to call for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty at the UN General Assembly, followed by Tuvalu at COP27. By 2024, 14 more nations have joined the call, supported by a wide range of actors, including the WHO, indigenous nations, cities like London and Paris, and various activists and leaders. Colombia, part of the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA), is now leading the fight against fossil fuels, directly linking climate action with biodiversity protection. At COP16, Colombia’s theme of "Peace with Nature" opens a new front in eliminating fossil fuels to protect biodiversity.
Together with government representatives from Colombia and the Pacific region, indigenous leaders, academics, and civil society organizations, we will seek to reveal the relationships between the exploitation of fossil fuels as a threat to life, in the context that we proposes the COP of the urgency of making “Peace with Nature”. The dialogue will seek to highlight the effects of fossil extraction on biodiversity and life in general, which oppose the collective actions around social and environmental justice sought from different territories. Proposals such as the planned exit from fossil dependence of the Colombian government and its public support for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, that of African organizations around leaving fossils buried in the Niger Delta, the protection of nature through of regenerative food practices, and indigenous paths that build ancestral futures, show us the possible paths towards the preservation of life in peace with nature.
The event will be in English and Spanish with live interpretation available.
Speakers:
Carlos Mauricio Herrera (Director of Conservation & Governance, WWF Colombia)
Toya Manchineri (General Coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon, COIAB and President of Manxinerune Tsihi Pukte Hajene, MATPHA)
Wanjira Mathai (Managing Director for Africa at the World Resource Institute)
Ómar Masera (Nobel Peace Prize laureate and co-coordinator of CONAHCYT's National Strategic Programme on Energy and Climate Change)
Kumi Naidoo (President of the Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty Initiative)
Tatiana Roa (Vice-Minister of Environment, Colombia)
Ralph Regenvanu (Vanuatu's Special Envoy for Climate Change and Environment)
Sandra Rátiva Gaona (Moderator - Advisor to the Deputy Minister for the Environment (Planning and Land Use)
RSVP: No registration is required but you need to have “Blue Zone” accreditation.