Nobel winners and former presidents slam lack of fossil fuel mention in UN pact draft

A group of 77 former world leaders and Nobel laureates have shared their “grave concern” about the removal of any mention of fossil fuels in the latest draft of the UN Pact for the Future.

In an open letter to global governments heading to the UN Summit of the Future in New York at the end of September, the group (comprised of dozens of Nobel Prize winners and a few former presidents) urges the United Nations to “commit to a fast and fair transition away from fossil fuels”. 

A first draft of the Pact for the Future, due to be signed at the Summit, urged “accelerating the transition away from fossil fuels”, but recent negotiations led to the removal of any mention of “fossil fuels” or a “just transition” in the latest version, published on July 17.

“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,” they warn.

A ‘stark failure to confront one of the greatest threats to our planet’

Signatories include former Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, former Irish President Mary Robinson, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, as well as 11 Nobel Peace Prize winners, 21 laureates of the Nobel Prize in chemistry, three in economic sciences, one in literature, 22 in physiology or medicine and 17 in physics.

"The omission of fossil fuels from the draft Pact for the Future is another stark failure to confront one of the greatest threats to our planet and humanity. World leaders should be unequivocal when it comes to acting decisively and collectively to prevent further climate impacts, and instead, they are deciding to bury their heads in the sand. Only through unwavering international cooperation to phase out fossil fuels can we safeguard our common future," said Löfven.

Energy transition slowed down by fossil fuel interests

Despite a clear scientific recognition that the world needs to transition away from fossil fuels to mitigate the climate crisis – which was officially enacted for the first time in the Global Stocktake adopted at the end of the COP28 conference last year – fossil fuel companies have continued to increase production.

For most fossil producers, GHG emissions actually increased after the signing of the Paris Agreement, and their shareholders have repeatedly rejected proposals to implement more ambitious decarbonisation goals. 

Just last week, Glencore gave up a plan to divest from profitable but highly polluting coal operations after its shareholders objected.