Everything we do needs energy. The type of energy we use shapes the world around us, from how clean is the air we breathe, to how shock-proof our economies are.
A rapid transition in energy use is at the centre of solving climate breakdown. The world still uses coal, oil and gas for over 80 percent of its energy needs. But the rise of renewable energy around the world is beating all expectations. Meeting climate targets means more than just having lots of solar panels and wind turbines, though – it means leaving fossil fuels in the ground, and radically reducing the amount of energy used in high-consuming countries and groups of people.
A rapid transition to clean and lower energy use can bring jobs, a wide range of health benefits, cleaner air and a more stable climate. Evidence shows that where communities own and develop renewable energy schemes the benefits spread more broadly and any problems are more easily overcome. It’s around energy that some of the most rapid and promising changes are happening right now.
A new approach is needed to tackle the climate crisis, in which the long overlooked supply-side of fossil fuels takes centre stage. A crucial aspect of this is the need for international agreements and law to effectively and fairly leave large swathes of remaining fossil fuels in the ground.
In 2019, the Rapid Transition Alliance set out the case for a Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty. Political momentum is building behind the idea of supply-side climate policy. A new global Fossil Fuel Non Proliferation Treaty could provide a transparent and fair means to stop climate breakdown.
The Alliance has joined a number of global and grassroots organisations and individuals joined the campaign for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Fossil Fuels remain the main cause of the Climate Emergency with coal, oil and gas responsible for almost 80% of all carbon dioxide emissions since the industrial revolution. Phasing out fossil fuels and fast tracking sustainable solutions will require require unprecedented international cooperation
You can join the initiative and endorse the Treaty today here.
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Commentary
The business of rapid transitionBusiness represents the great paradox of rapid transition. On the one hand, much is expected of business in terms of technological innovation, new models of...
Story of change
The Great Switch – lessons from when 14 million homes and businesses changed fuel in less than a decadeIn 2019 the UK’s official advisor, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), warned that the nation’s homes were ‘unfit for the challenges of climate...
Story of change
There is such a thing as a free-ride! Rapid innovations in urban transportIn the United States, once the home of car culture, cities are experimenting with free public transport following successful international experiments. In...
Story of change
A different Wind of Change – harnessing Africa’s largest wind project for climate actionAfter commencing only in 2015, the Lake Turkana Wind Power Project (LTWP) in Kenya has rapidly become the largest such initiative in Africa, and Kenya’s...
Story of change
Dethroning king coal – how a once dominant fuel source is falling rapidly from favourElectricity fuelled by coal is experiencing a record decline. 2019 is expected to show the biggest fall yet, after decades of increases. An accelerated move...
Story of change
Can state-of-the-art batteries fuel a clean, renewable energy and transport future?In late 2019 images of Australia in flames spread around the world. Record weather extremes related to global heating had created conditions in which vast...
Story of change
Reducing roads can cause traffic to ‘Evaporate’In April 2019 a heavily-used bridge across the River Thames in London was closed indefinitely due to structural problems. Local media were full of alarm,...
Story of change
How learning to share again cuts waste, and makes more resilient communitiesSharing is one of the very first things we are taught to do as children, it’s almost the defining difference between being ‘good’ or seen as selfish....
Story of change
Transition Towns – the quiet, networked revolutionThe Transition Network began in 2006 in the small rural UK town of Totnes, Devon. It was initially a response to the twin threats of climate change and peak...
