18th January 2023 - Today, at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared that fossil fuel expansion is “insanity [that] belongs in science fiction” when we know that “the ecosystem meltdown is cold, hard scientific fact”.

The impassioned speech comes on the back of major fossil fuel headlines within the past week. The head of state oil giant Abu Dhabi National Oil Company was named a head of this year's COP28 climate summit while research was published on how Exxon had accurate climate modelling internally since the 1970s yet still strove to mislead the public on their industry fueling the climate crisis. Meanwhile, Greta Thunberg co-launched an appeal for climate action just days before being one of many arrested at a protest over the controversial expansion of a western Germany coal mine.

Alex Rafalowicz, Executive Director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative responded: “We have to stop the lies of big oil, gas, and coal companies and start collective action on phasing them out. Government action to date has been piecemeal and devastatingly slow, riddled by the influence of fossil fuel lobbyists who are roadblocking progress in favour of profit. We cannot meet the goals of the Paris Agreement without international cooperation to explicitly tackle all fossil fuels and its industry head on. A glaring gap exists, one that can be filled by a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is already being called for by nation states, parliamentarians, Nobel Laureates and sub-national governments.”

The Secretary-General also likened Big Oil to the tobacco industry in terms of disinformation and needing to be held to account. As noted by the World Health Organisation and hundreds of international health organisations in a joint letter last year: “Like the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the proposed Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty would be an evidence-based international agreement to control a category of substances well-known to be harmful to human health.”

A recently launched Global Registry for Fossil Fuels revealed that existing reserves already would result in seven times more emissions than the world’s carbon budget can allow. Although the window for action is narrowing, there is still opportunity to stave off the worst of the climate crisis.

Michael E Mann, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State University and Fossil Fuel Treaty Champion, said: “While we are already experiencing dangerous climate change impacts, we can still avert the worst consequences if we rapidly accelerate the transition from fossil fuels toward clean energy and climate-friendly practices. A Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty can be an anchor for driving forward that transition globally.”