November 16, Baku, Azerbaijan – This Saturday at the UN Climate Change Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, the Government of Colombia hosted a press conference with other allies and experts to share the advances of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative. Representatives of the growing group of 14 countries presented the course ahead in the effort to secure a negotiating mandate for a Treaty. 

Hon. Prof. Biman Prasad, Deputy Prime Minister of Fiji: “The idea of the Fossil Fuel Treaty is gaining momentum amongst governments, businesses, civil society and we look forward to carrying it forward to significant advances in 2025. The Treaty, as we see it, is a tool to address climate injustice and drive the shift needed to achieve a much needed transition to clean energy, while equitably managing the phase out of harmful fossil fuels globally. This proposal for a legally binding mechanism presents an opportunity to hold wealthier nations accountable for their role in the crisis while providing vulnerable nations like ours with the financial and technical support we need for the transition. The time has come to respond with greater urgency, greater focus, greater solidarity. The Fossil Fuel Treaty is a key part of that response.“

Susana Muhamad, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia: “The effort to develop a Fossil Fuel Treaty that will help achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and complement the UNFCCC process is moving to the next stage in 2025. As we agreed during the meeting of the ministers who are part of this initiative, we will pursue resolutions at the United Nations General Assembly and the United Nations Environmental Assembly to push forward the Fossil Fuel Treaty proposal. We have discussed how the treaty will address the potential implications of phasing out fossil fuels and the economic requirements of moving forward. We hope that in the next stage we will be getting the commitments of other countries keen on participating in this process, so that we can begin negotiations. We encourage all people and governments who want a fair, fast, and financed transition to join us.“

Dr. Maria Neira, Director of the Department of Public Health and Environment at the World Health Organization (WHO): “The climate crisis is a health crisis as well. And it's affecting our health in a very serious and dramatic way. The cost of the crisis is already paid by our lungs. Every year we have 7 million premature deaths caused by exposure to the polluted air we are breathing due to the same causes that are responsible for global warming. The combustion of fossil fuels overlaps 75% with the causes of air pollution. We will host the 2nd Conference on Air Pollution & Health, taking place in Cartagena, Colombia in March 2025, hosted by Colombia and the World Health Organization and many other partners. It will be a forum where we will strengthen conversations around the Treaty, and where we will be looking at the transition and how we can help subsidise energy innovation." 

The press conference follows the Second Ministerial Meeting of the endorsing countries, which was held on Thursday at COP29. Over the course of the year, the 14 nations have been accompanied by 10 other countries, from every region of the world, actively participating in the discussions and convenings.

A cross-section of Ministers and senior government officials from the endorsing nations from the Pacific, Southeast Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as observers from other countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Europe who are interested in advancing the proposal, gathered to discuss key priorities for the Fossil Fuel Treaty proposal in 2025, including proposed legal pathways and mechanisms for financing a just transition. 

The ministers agreed to explore pathways to secure a negotiating mandate for a treaty through a forum such as the UN General Assembly (UNGA) or a standalone negotiating process, and to explore a resolution on fossil fuels in the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA).

In the Ministerial discussions were also presented two reports around debt and financial mechanisms for the proposed treaty. These highlighted the challenges for accessing finance for a just transition, potential Treaty mechanisms on debt and the ways a treaty can raise transition finance. The first report, “If It's Not Global, It's Not Just: How a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty can Accelerate Finance for a Global Just Transition", by Amiera Sawas, Rebecca Byrnes and Mia Partridge, considered the global landscape of proposals to catalyse international financing for the just transition, reviewing over 170 articles and dialogues.

The second report “Urgent Action to Address Energy Access, Debt and Finance for Renewable Energy in the Caribbean Region: Can a new generation of debt-for-renewables swap help?“, by Jwala Rambarran, Dr. Preeya Mohan, and Amiera Sawas, looks at one of the greatest barriers to Just Transition finance - debt. Focussing on the Caribbean region, with a case study on Dominica, it proposes that a Treaty could platform a new ‘Debt Resolution Facility’ where members are supported to renegotiate their debts with a range of creditors and push for more fairness in the process.

In addition to the efforts toward a complementary treaty, the Ministers also agreed they will work together in Baku to get a strong outcome at COP29 on the New Collective Quantified Goal on climate finance and the Just Transition Working Program. 

“It took us 28 years to finally have a decision text at COP on transitioning away from fossil fuels. We must make sure this commitment is not lost in translation and is reinforced in all future decisions,”reinforced Prof. Prasad from Fiji.