Fossil fuels are our generation’s weapons of mass destruction. They are the nuclear weapons of our century, dividing our world through inequality and instability, and are the primary cause of the climate crisis. The imminent threat of global climate change is now greater than nuclear war, yet our governments so far refuse to stop approving new coal, oil and gas projects.

In these dire times, there is an urgent need for a global mechanism to phase out fossil fuels given the disastrous environmental and social impacts that they inflict.

We, the young people, will have to live with these ever-worsening impacts. Our chance at a brighter future is now being stolen and we’re having to sacrifice our youth to fight for that which should be a fundamental human right. Just as Indigenous Peoples, Pacific Island nations, more than 2000 scientists, 101 Nobel Laureates, and over 700 civil society organisations have called for a global mechanism to manage a fast and fair transition away from coal, oil, and gas, we are now adding our voices to this growing call for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.

With this year’s COP26 Climate Talks in Glasgow being a crucial moment for action, governments and policymakers must address the root causes of the climate crisis. They must act with justice and equity, unlike what is happening with the global response to the COVID pandemic and vaccine inequity where the Global South has once again been deprived of what is needed to survive. We cannot go back to normal, to a world hooked up to fossil fuels. We need a green recovery. The recent release of the IPCC report has shown the climate crisis to be an even starker threat to humanity, especially for those most marginalized and historically and currently exploited - yet it is still not being treated as a crisis. 

We have known for decades that the climate crisis is a genuine threat to humanity caused by both the richest, most influential members of society and the fossil fuel industry, and yet the idea to treat it like a crisis and to get rid of the evil that is causing it is still under intense debate. We have the solution to our problem right in front of us - but we need governments to become actual leaders and to act with dignity, compassion, empathy, and leadership.

The willful ignorance of our leaders and their predominant fixation on profit, everlasting growth, and the fossil fuel industry’s role in this is causing untold damage across the planet. Young people are not just inheriting a burning, flooded, melting planet - we’re already living in it, being born into it.

Youth activists are specifically affected as we continue to protest and demand justice. Our voices and participation are tokenized at global climate conferences, which have continuously supported fossil fuel interests and make crucial global decisions behind closed doors. Not only tokenized, but those living in the places most vulnerable to the climate crisis are actively silenced, threatened, called terrorists, and our lives are put on the line, especially Indigenous youth - the environmental defenders.

The deadly consequences of decades of fossil fuel extraction and expansion are already here, and no country or region on Earth is spared from it. Millions of people already bear the burden of governments' inaction to limit collective global warming to 1.5ºC, and we are now facing multiple scientifically proven potential tipping points. Already, the crisis multiplies the inequalities and injustices deeply embedded in the system built to benefit and profit a certain few.

This broken system can be replaced with one based on science, shared responsibility, justice, and empathy in decision-making - one where no one is left behind. Their refusal to take any form of accountability for fossil fuels and to act urgently is forcing an unprecedented cost that the young generation and those who are most marginalized will have to carry. 

Now is the time for governments to phase out fossil fuels. The science is clear, and the desire to move towards a better future is strong. The collective majority wants change, and we are demanding that it be implemented by those in power. There is no time to wait.

We call on governments and policymakers to urgently commence negotiations to negotiate, adopt and implement a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty laying out a binding global plan to:

1. End expansion of any new oil, gas, and coal production in line with the best available science as outlined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and United Nations Environment Program;

2. Phase-out existing production of oil, gas, and coal at the pace required to meet the 1.5C goal, and in a manner that is fair and equitable, taking into account the responsibilities of countries for climate change and their respective dependency on fossil fuels, and their capacity to transition;

3. Ensure a global just transition for 100% access to renewable energy globally, support dependent economies to diversify away from fossil fuels, and enable people and communities across the globe to flourish.

This is why we are adding our voices to the environmental defenders and scientists to demand a global treaty to phase out fossil fuels. This shift to renewable energy must be the beginning of the just transition that we need, and that means we will not support unjust use of lands or water resources of the Indigenous Peoples, farmers, and fishermen, or any wildlife habitat. We, the youth, refuse to compromise on our lives and the rights of others. We will not give up on fighting for a better future and present. A green energy system is drastically needed, but that should not hurt marginalized people. We’re fighting for a world that leaves no one behind. The youth will not stop, we’re not backing down until fossil fuels are phased out and we begin our just transition. We won’t let your empty promises destroy us.