After a powerful wave of actions across the globe demanding to act on local struggles and oppose dirty energy projects, the Reclaim Power initiative addresses governments at the UN climate talks in Marrakech (COP22), calling for an immediate and just energy transformation.
The statement will be delivered today (17th November) in Marrakesh at 13:00 (14:00 Central European Time), and Young Friends of the Earth Europe are urging our member groups and the wider movement to share this message widely.
Reclaim Power Message to All Governments:
We, the partner groups of Reclaim Power, strongly demand that governments of the world make a swift and just transformation of energy systems – from fossil fuel and dirty energy dominated systems, towards clean, renewable and democratic energy systems that ensure universal access for people and communities.
Fossil fuel energy includes coal, oil and gas. It includes the use of destructive technologies being used to scale up and increase the extraction of fossil fuels, such as hydraulic fracturing or “fracking”, mining, and conventional oil drilling. Dirty and harmful energy also includes the aggressive production and promotion of large-scale agro-fuels at the expense of food and livelihoods, mega-dams and hydro projects that devastate river ecosystems and cause massive environmental damage, dangerous nuclear power, industrial wood-based bioenergy which speeds up forest destruction and land conversion to monoculture plantations, and the toxic burning of waste in incinerators and cement plants.
As an immediate step, we demand that governments stop authorizing, financing and subsidizing new dirty energy projects and infrastructure.
Public finance and investments should be redirected and scaled up to hasten the development of democratic, pro-poor, renewable and clean energy. Further, governments must regulate the excessive and wasteful energy consumption of corporations and elites.
This is in keeping with governments’ commitment to the goal of limiting global temperature rise to below 1.5°C and preventing catastrophic climate change..
No to Dirty Energy! Yes to Renewable Energy for people and communities!
Other COP22 events and actions, 17th November:
Get involved or communicate widely!
- Press Conference on Dirty Energy/Reclaim Power
- Action on Climate Finance
- Action: Solidarity with Standing Rock
- FOEI Press Conference on Banks Funding Indonesia Coal Power Plants/Reclaim Power
- Action on Hydropower Impacts in Latin America
Follow on twitter for COP22 news:
@Young_FoEE; @FoEint; @DClimateJustice; @ClimateJustInfo; @chilledasad100; @diptimoz; @earthinbrackets