Motion 042

Fossil fuels, responsible for 86% of CO2 emissions in the last decade, undermine all 17 Sustainable Development Goals, including through causing caused substantial and increasingly irreversible losses in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine ecosystems. Rising temperatures have forced species to migrate to higher elevations or latitudes, with extinction risk increasing with each degree of warming. Despite this, governments currently plan to extract more than double the amount of fossil fuels than is compatible with the 1.5°C temperature limit by 2030.

The challenge of fossil fuel dependence is particularly acute in developing states. Over 400 million people live in countries that derive more than 20% of their revenue from fossil fuels. This economic dependence is intensified by sovereign debt burdens, with Global South countries spending five times more on debt repayments than on climate mitigation and adaptation.

While IUCN resolutions and existing frameworks have addressed aspects of the fossil fuel challenge - from IUCN's calls to eliminate subsidies and coal consumption (WCC 2020 Res 033) and the commitment at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels in the energy system - there remains a distinct gap in international governance of fossil fuel supply and mechanisms for just transition.

Regional blocs, civil society groups and soft-law Initiatives are increasingly seeking to address aspects of the fossil fuel challenge. The 2023 Port Vila Call and 2024 Naiuli Declaration demonstrate Pacific leadership on the issue of fossil fuel supply.

The Amazon, one of Earth's most biodiverse regions, faces imminent risk of reaching a tipping point if 20-25% of its rainforest is destroyed - with an estimated 14-17% already lost. Indigenous Peoples and local communities, disproportionately impacted by fossil fuel expansion, have consistently advocated for protection of these territories, as demonstrated by the successful Yasuni referendum and the FOSPA agreement calling the Amazon, Andean and marine-coastal zones to be ‘fossil fuel and extractivism free zones’.

The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, now supported by 16 countries from four continents, provides a framework for addressing the governance gap on fossil fuel supply through three pillars: preventing new fossil fuel expansion, ensuring a fair phase-out of existing production, and supporting just transition for dependent economies. Building on successful examples of ‘high ambition’ treaties like the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, this Initiative seeks to create a breakthrough in international cooperation through the establishment of a justice-centred high ambition group of nation-states, informed by civil society, academia and the private sector.

This motion seeks to mobilize IUCN's unique convening power and technical expertise to support the development of such a mechanism. By addressing the current gap in international governance of fossil fuel supply, IUCN can help create pathways for sustainable development that protect both nature and human wellbeing.