Open letter to the fossil fuel industry and their financiers
Oslo, 29 August 2022
Today, NGOs from all over the world are sending a message to the streets of Stavanger, the oil capital of Norway, where 65,000 people from the oil and gas industry will attend the oil conference ONS between August 29 and 1 September. The name of this year’s conference is ‘TRUST’.
We want to make the fossil fuel industry understand that the world is watching what they are doing. The participants at ONS have to realize that they are, in fact, a major part of the problem. The current war in Ukraine does not justify aggravating the climate crisis by locking in emissions from new oil and gas investments. A renewable transition is more urgent than ever. We urge oil and gas executives to use their record profits to ensure a green and just transition and avoid climate disaster.
UN secretary general Antonio Guterres has urged people everywhere to send a clear message to the fossil fuel industry and their financiers. We want to amplify his very clear message and we urge ONS to listen - because the future of our planet is at stake:
“The combined profits of the largest energy companies in the first quarter of this year are close to $100 billion. The grotesque greed of the fossil fuel industry and their financiers is punishing the poorest and most vulnerable people, while destroying our only home- the planet,” said Guterres early August this year.
Dear ONS: leave oil and gas in the ground for the benefit of the planet and its people. As Guterres says, “The climate crisis is our number one emergency, and renewables are the peace plan of the twenty-first century.”
With hopes for a just and green transition,
Signed:
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
Greenpeace
Naturvernforbundet (Friends of the Earth Norway)
Climate Action Network Canada
Centre for Citizens Conserving Environment & Management (CECIC-Uganda)
Les Amis de la Terre-Togo (Friends of the Earth Togo)
Food & Water Action Europe
Uplift
Youth Climate Save Canada
Deutsche Umwelthilfe / Environmental Action Germany
Équiterre
Sierra Club Canada Foundation
Foire ÉCOSPHÈRE
Nature Québec
Mouvement écocitoyen UNEplanète
Grandmothers Act to Save the Planet - GASP
The Greens Movement of Georgia (Friends of the Earth Georgia)
Ontario Clean Air Alliance
ECORE
Action Environnement Basses-Laurentides
Action Climat Outaouais
Both ENDS (the Netherlands)
Amigu di Tera Curaçao (Friends of the Earth Curaçao)
Legal Rights and Natural Resources Center (Friends of the Earth Philippines)
Oil Change International
Amal - Organization for Relief & Development
Friends of the Earth Europe
Fondation Rivières
RVHQ - Regroupement vigilance hydrocarbures Québec
Natur og Ungdom (Young Friends of the Earth Norway)
Leave it in the Ground Initiative (LINGO, Germany)
Réseau québécois des groupes écologistes - Québec, Canada
Maan ystävät (Friends of the Earth Finland)
Stand.earth
Conseil Central du Montréal Métropolitain-CSN
Pacific Islands Council of Qld
Environmental Defence
Greater Victoria Climate Hub
North Island Climate Hub
Transition écologique La Pêche Coalition for a Green New Deal
Fast For the Climate
Miljøagentene - Eco-Agents
Changemaker
Baltic Pipe Nejtak!
Climate Action Network Latin America (CANLA)
Green 13
Mobilisation environnement Ahuntsic-Cartierville (MEAC)
Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA)
Friends of The Earth Bangladesh.