Resource
We need a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty – and we need it nowThe publication of the IPCC special report on global warming of 1.5 degrees concluded that only “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all...
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.
Story of change
Heating households not the planet: from China to Denmark rapid transition in heating brings warmer homes with less climate costWinter is coming in the northern hemisphere and keeping homes warm is on everyone’s minds. Much housing stock is old, inefficient and leaks heat, and the...
Report
How did we do that? The possibility of rapid transitionA booklet which collects stories of rapid transitions to show what we can learn from history and the present day about how people adapt to rapid change.
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
How Whatcom County opposed fossil fuel expansion and showed how to winFor more than two years now, the small community of Whatcom County, in Northwest Washington State in the U.S. has been working with local leaders to take...
Story of change
Leaving the burning building – the rapid spread of fossil fuel divestmentFrom the first known, active divestment from fossil fuels by the small Unity college in Portland, Maine, United States in 2012, in just six years the...
Story of change
Local, civic action is growing a climate revolution from belowIn the yawning gap between national action and what is needed to stop climate breakdown, a rapid rise of local and city level activism is growing a...
Story of change
Make do and mend: the rise of repair cafesThe relationship with ‘stuff’ in high-consuming, wealthy economies is set to change. From the European Union to the United States new laws are being...
Commentary
Meet The Members – Paul Allen, Centre for Alternative TechnologyThe Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) is an educational charity dedicated to researching and communicating positive solutions for environmental...
Story of change
Off-grid solar power lighting up rural KenyaThis rapid transition has seen the booming of a private market since the early 1980s – with hundreds of thousands of Solar Home Systems (SHS) installed...