Greta Thunberg tells world leaders to end fossil fuel ‘madness’
Greta Thunberg and fellow youth climate campaigners are demanding that
global leaders immediately end the “madness” of huge ongoing investments in
fossil fuel exploration and enormous subsidies for coal, oil and gas use. The 21 young activists
are also calling on the political and business leaders who will be attending
the World Economic Forum in Davos to ensure investment funds dump their
holdings in fossil fuel companies.
“Anything less would be a betrayal against
life itself,” said
Thunberg and colleagues in
an article in the Guardian. “Today’s business as usual is turning into a
crime against humanity. We demand that you play your part in putting an end to
this madness.” The burning of fossil
fuels is the biggest driver of the climate emergency. Scientists predict
catastrophic impacts unless deep cuts in emissions are made rapidly, but global
emissions are still rising.
“Young people are
being let down by older generations and those in power,” the climate strikers
said. “To some it may seem like we are asking for a lot. But this is just the
very minimum effort needed to start the rapid sustainable transition.” Much of the world’s
existing coal, oil and gas reserves must
be kept in the ground to avoid the worst impacts of global heating.
But investment in fossil fuel exploration and extraction remains high.
Since the Paris
climate agreement in 2015, the world’s largest investment banks have provided
more than $700bn
(£535bn) to fossil fuel companies to develop new projects, with the
total investment estimated to be trillions of dollars. Fossil fuel companies
argue that their products will be used for many years to come and that they
have a pivotal role in shifting the energy system to zero emissions. But their
investments in green energy are tiny compared with those in fossil fuels.
Subsidies for fossil
fuels also remain high despite a G20 pledge in 2009 to eliminate them. The IMF
estimates such subsidies
run at $10m a
minute, or $5.2tn a year. “The fact that [ending investment and subsidies]
hasn’t been done already is, quite frankly, a disgrace,” said Thunberg and
colleagues. Investors managing
funds totalling $12tn have already divested
from coal, oil and gas, but the climate activists demand that “all
companies, banks, institutions and governments immediately and completely
divest from fossil fuels”....
