Images: Universidad Pablo de Olavide [CC BY-SA 2.0]; TED Conference [CC BY-NC 2.0]; NTNU, Faculty of Natural Sciences [CC BY 2.0], via Flickr
Letter signatories “gravely concerned” about recent omission of fossil fuels from United Nations plans
A group of Nobel Prize laureates and global politicians has criticised the United Nations for failing to address fossil fuels in recent plans for an upcoming summit on societal challenges.
The UN Summit of the Future will bring together world leaders, policymakers, experts and advocates at the UN headquarters in New York in September to discuss how multilateralism can provide a “better tomorrow”.
The summit is expected to produce three texts—a Pact for the Future, a Global Digital Compact and a Declaration on Future Generations—containing guiding principles, commitments and actions for countries in the UN to abide by.
But 77 signatories of an open letter published on 13 August said they “are gravely concerned that the draft Pact for the Future does not even mention fossil fuels, one of the greatest threats facing the world today”.
A previous version of the draft urged “accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels”, according to the signatories.
Need to avoid ‘carnage’
The letter outlines how the extraction and burning of fossil fuels is the “primary cause of the climate crisis, fuelling extreme weather, fires, lethal heat, droughts and flooding that are threatening lives and livelihoods around the planet” and causing other “carnage”.
It calls for global leaders at the summit to negotiate a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty and commit to fostering the transition away from fossil fuels to adhere to the 1.5C global warming target limit decided in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
The summit has been described by UN secretary general António Guterres as a “unique opportunity to help rebuild trust and bring outdated multilateral institutions and frameworks into line with today’s world”.
But signatories of the open letter said that “if the Summit of the Future does not address the threat of fossil fuels, it will not be worthy of its name, risking undermining a once-in-a-century opportunity to restore trust in the power of international cooperation”.
Signatories include former president of Ireland Mary Robinson and former prime minister of Sweden Stefan Löfven. They also include Nobel laureates Jennifer Doudna, Andre Geim and Paul Nurse (pictured centre, right and left respectively).
The UN general secretariat did not respond to a request for comment from Research Professional News.
Using science for society
The proposed Pact for the Future, drafted in consultation with UN member states and civil society networks, includes 58 action points across all facets of society. Some address science, technology and innovation as well as space and the environment.
One action point is to help developing countries “strengthen their STI capacities” while others seek to ensure that STI “contribute to the full enjoyment of human rights by all” and “improve gender equality and the lives of all women and girls”.
The proposed Global Digital Compact sets out principles and actions to close the digital divide and harness new technologies for social good.
Under the compact, the UN member states would commit to establishing a scientific panel on artificial intelligence “to promote scientific understanding through evidence-based impact, risk and opportunity assessments, drawing on existing national, regional and international initiatives and research networks”.