Toronto City Council votes by overwhelming majority (22-2) to endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to phase out fossil fuels and fast track a fair energy transition.

PRESS RELEASE, FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, July 15, 2021

TORONTO - Today, Toronto passed a motion to endorse the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, an initiative that aims to address the source of 80% of the CO2 emissions that cause climate change: fossil fuels. The vote follows a period of record breaking high temperatures across the nation causing human deaths, biodiversity loss and wildfires that scientists say would have been “virtually impossible” without climate change.

Toronto’s endorsement of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty builds on the city’s climate leadership, including declaring a climate emergency and adopting an ambitious climate action plan, Transform TO, in 2019.

City Councillor Shelley Carroll, Ward 17 - Don Valley North, added: “By endorsing the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, Toronto is joining a network of cities globally in advancing our climate goals. We have seen lately that the effect of climate change is no longer in the distant future and more must be done for mitigation. This endorsement reiterates our commitment to an equitable and green post-pandemic recovery.” 

Toronto is the second city in Canada to endorse the initiative after Vancouver’s inaugural endorsement in 2020. The Canadian cities are amongst a growing number of communities across the globe calling to stop the expansion of fossil and to phase out their production in line with the Paris Agreement goals. These include Barcelona, Los Angeles and even an ex-coal mining town in the UK and now others such as New York City have drafted motions to follow suit. 

The Treaty has also gained endorsements from over a hundred Nobel Laureates, over a thousand scientists and thousands of organizations and individuals globally including David Suzuki, Third World Network, Indigenous Environmental Network, Naomi Klein, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, Kairos, ClimateFast, Stand.Earth, Climate Action Network Canada, Friends of the Earth and more.

Seble Samuel, Global Cities Lead for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, said: “By endorsing the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, Toronto is sending a strong signal to provincial and federal governments that fossil fuel expansion cannot continue during a time of climate crisis. A changing climate and instances like last month’s heat dome show that the emergency is real and it is now. It is communities and cities that have the agility and understanding of local impacts to generate upward momentum on climate action and we see this move as being able to inspire similar motions in other cities across Canada and beyond.”

Allie Rougeot, Toronto Coordinator for FridaysforFutureTO, said: “Toronto is making the right call by signing on to the Treaty. It is no longer enough to talk about climate change; we must name the problem and enthusiastically endorse the solutions. It is the burning of fossil fuels that lead us to the dire situation we are now in, and we must be brave in our efforts to phase them out while leaving no-one behind. As a young Canadian, I see this decision as an important step towards a safer future.” 

“We need action on climate - fast” said Lyn Adamson, Co-Chair of ClimateFast and Toronto Campaign Organizer. “The relentless rising of CO2 levels has one compelling message: We must stop, just stop, all oil and gas exploration and development- and choose to put all of our energy and our investment into the transition to a renewable future. This must be the turnaround decade.“

The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty is critically needed as a complement to the Paris Accord to hold governments and the fossil fuel industry accountable for emissions from the production of fossil fuels. As it stands, national governments plan to expand fossil fuels at levels that would result in 120 percent more emissions than what is in keeping with the limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming. Despite these plans, there is currently no mechanism in place to limit this fossil fuel expansion.

Canada is the only G7 nation to have increased its emissions since signing the Paris Agreement and spent $18bn in financial subsidies for the fossil fuel industry last year. The federal government is facing increasing pressure to adopt an earnest and ambitious national climate agenda, but provinces and cities across the nation will need to join Toronto and Vancouver in recognizing the urgency of climate action.

Tzeporah Berman, Chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative and International Program Director at Stand.earth said: “We have international cooperation today to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons due in part to the leadership of cities who banded together decades ago. Today the expansion of fossil fuels is the greatest global threat to safety and security.  We are encouraged by the support from the City of Toronto and urge other Canadian cities to join them in calling on our Federal government to make a plan to phase out fossil fuel production and support global cooperation to ensure that this is done fast, fairly and forever.”  

Vancouver Councillor Christine Boyle said: “When Vancouver became the first city to endorse the treaty, we knew that we’d need the support of fellow cities across the globe. We are thrilled that Toronto is joining Vancouver in demanding an end to the fossil fuel era. The devastating and deadly damage from the heat dome in our home province is an urgent  reminder that the climate emergency is at our doorstep. There is a clear misalignment between Canada’s climate rhetoric and the action being taken by senior levels of government. Cities are taking action within their own jurisdiction, and holding the federal government accountable to ensure Canada makes fossil fuels history”.

“Kudos to the City of Toronto for passing this resolution,” David Suzuki Foundation climate policy analyst Gideon Forman said. “As the effects of the climate crisis continue to worsen, if ever there was a time to stop the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, it’s now. The good news is we already have many of the solutions we need, like affordable wind and solar power and electric-powered public transit.”

The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty provides a vehicle to spur the international cooperation needed, drawing on lessons from global efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and ban asbestos, ozone depleting chemicals, landmines and other threats to humanity. It will advance action under three pillars:

1. Non-Proliferation - Don’t Add to the Problem
   An immediate end to the expansion into new reserves of coal, oil and natural gas would limit the globe’s production of carbon emissions (which if left alone would create more than twice over the limit set by the United Nations and other organizations).

2. Global Disarmament - Get Rid of the Existing Threat
   Since existing oil and gas fields and coal mines contain enough carbon on their own, phasing out those current stockpiles is a much needed step to keep the world under the Paris Agreement’s temperature limits.

3. Peaceful Transition - Accelerate an Equitable Transition
   Every worker, community, and country must be taken into the deepest consideration on the way to fast-tracking all solutions. Only a proactive plan to enable economic diversification, implement renewable energy and other reliable, cost-effective low-carbon solutions will be able to meet the needs of a sustainable future.

For more information on the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, please visit the website and view the introduction video.

About SAFE Cities and the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative

SAFE Cities is a growing movement of neighbors, local groups, and elected officials phasing out fossil fuels and fast-tracking renewable energy solutions to ensure a just transition. Already dozens of cities and counties across the US – and several more around the globe – have passed concrete policies to keep their communities SAFE from fossil fuels, build renewable energy infrastructure, and create good, long-term jobs.

The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative is spurring international cooperation to end new development of fossil fuels, phase out existing production within the agreed climate limit of 1.5°C, and develop plans to support workers, communities and countries dependent on fossil fuels to create secure and healthy livelihoods.

The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and SAFE Cities are sister campaigns working toward the same goal – an equitable world safe from fossil fuels. While SAFE Cities are a locally based solution that people in every community in the world can act on without delay to achieve a just transition, the Treaty Initiative goes global by encouraging first mover governments to act now while spotlighting the need for global cooperation in a time of global crisis. Together they tackle the climate emergency at all levels of government to ensure high-level ambition is paired with accountable execution on the ground.

Media contacts:

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

Brenna Two Bears, Communications Associate, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
brenna@climateaccess.org
+1 812 345 3139

Lyn Adamson, Co-Chair for ClimateFast and Toronto Campaign Organizer
lyn.adamson9@gmail.com

Spokespersons available for interview include:

• Tzeporah Berman, Chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative and International Program Director at Stand.earth

• Seble Samuel, Global Cities Lead for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative

• Allie Rougeot, Toronto Coordinator for FridaysforFutureTO

• Lyn Adamson, Co-Chair for ClimateFast

• Gideon Forman, Climate Policy Analyst for David Suzuki Foundation