When You’re in a Hole, Stop Digging
23 October 2015
Pop quiz time. Question one: Do you remember when G20 leaders pledged to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies? That bold and necessary pledge took place in 2009 and was greeted with much rejoicing. Question two: Do you remember the date when those fossil fuel subsidies actually got eliminated?
ECO doesn’t know, either—because it’s never actually happened.
Six years on, it’s time to stop sitting around and waiting. On November 14, citizens around the world will mobilise in the streets and online, calling for world leaders to #Stop Funding Fossils.
The momentum and pressure to stop funding fossil fuels has been growing globally in response to rising concerns about the damage carbon pollution is having on the people and places we love. Businesses, local governments, faith organisations, pension funds, and other public institutions are jumping on board as part of the wildly successful divestment movement. And yet, even with all this support, national governments have failed to act.
But it’s not too late! Between now and Paris, whether through new, substantive commitments at the G20 or by ending export credits for coal through the OECD, there are opportunities to achieve real victories. Not the kind of wins that depend on vague promises for the future, but the kind that involve the actual removal of all fossil fuel subsidies.. If we stop funding the continued survival of the outdated fossil fuel industry by giving them handouts, we can keep polluting carbon in the ground and use our money to invest in clean, renewable energy.
Delegates, put November 14 in your diaries and join the global movement to #StopFundingFossils