Communities, movements, and civil society across the world unite in a statement in support of the United Nations adoption of the ‘Pact for the Future,’ which reaffirms the pledge to ‘transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly, and equitable manner, and further call to stop expansion of gas and LNG facilities in communities globally.
The Pact for the Future is an international agreement designed to adapt global cooperation to the pressing challenges including sustainable development, climate change, and financing. This comes along with over a hundred parliamentarians from all over the world issued a letter to United States government for an immediate ban on all new liquified natural gas (LNG) exports.
“Today, it is our communities who suffer among the worst impacts of the climate crisis. The same communities are doubly jeopardized by the massive buildout of LNG globally under the guise of an energy transition,” said Gerry Arances, Executive Director of Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development.
“In peddling this bridge fuel lie, governments, companies, and financiers backing the global LNG buildout endanger not only our climate survival, but also the health of coasts and seas which breathe life to our world’s marine ecosystems and provide sustenance and livelihood to many,” said Jeffrey Jacoby, Deputy Director, Texas Campaign for the Environment.
The statement was signed by over 50 organizations worldwide, including Southeast Asia and U.S. groups such as the Southeast Asia Working Group on Fossil Gas and Just Energy Transition, Center for Energy, Ecology, and Development, Texas Campaign for the Environment, Gulf South Fossil Finance Hub, People’s Coalition for Water Rights (KRuHA), Greenpeace Thailand, Trend Asia, JET in Thailand, and others.
“LNG is no bridge to a sustainable or livable future. It is a chain that binds vulnerable communities around the world to continued fossil fuel reliance, economic burden, and worse climate chaos. LNG, too, is a roadblock to a swift and just transition from clean, affordable, and reliable energy from renewables that our countries can and should instead be pursuing today,” said Muhamad Reza, National Coordinator of KRuHA.
The statement concludes with a demand for a just energy transition, asserting “It is high time that we break the fossil chain that this false bridge fuel represents. Governments, companies, and financial institutions across the world must stop endangering our very climate and ecological survival, and instead pave the path for a renewable energy transition aligned to global climate imperatives.”