They’re Totally “Willing To End Fossil Fuels” Or Something

The tone deafness and hypocrisy is amazing

Willing to End Fossil Fuels

The first gathering of a new international “coalition of the willing” to transition away from fossil fuels recently took place in Colombia. It’s a separate event from the UN COP climate negotiations and was born in part out of frustration over fossil fuel friendly nations like the US, Russia, China, and Saudi Arabia stalling the COP process. Rodrigo Estrada, Senior Climate Advisor at Greenpeace International, was there and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to share the takeaways and next steps.

Transcript
DOERING: From PRX and the Jennifer and Ted Stanley Studios at the University of Massachusetts Boston, this is Living on Earth, I’m Jenni Doering.

O’NEILL: And I’m Aynsley O’Neill.

The first gathering of a new international “coalition of the willing” to transition away from fossil fuels took place in Santa Marta, Colombia at the end of April. It’s a separate event from the UN COP climate negotiations and it was born in part out of frustration over fossil fuel-friendly nations stalling the COP process. So, for this conference, nations seen as spoilers, like the United States, Russia, China, India, and Saudi Arabia were specifically not invited. Jointly convened by Colombia and the Netherlands, this event brought together 57 countries and the European Union, representing roughly 30% of global energy demand. Also present were civil society organizations and representatives of indigenous peoples. The conference was aimed at accelerating political momentum for a just energy transition and closing the gap between discussions and concrete action when it comes to international climate negotiations. Rodrigo Estrada is a Senior Climate Advisor at Greenpeace International who was there in Santa Marta. Rodrigo, welcome to Living on Earth!

So, 57 nations and the EU sent people on long, fossil fueled trips to Santa Marta? How many came on private jets? How many traveled around town in fossil fueled vehicles? How many protesters took fossil fueled trips to protest?

See those clothes? Made with petroleum. That sign? Petroleum. Most of those flags? Petroleum? The glasses? Yup, petroleum? The hats? Mostly petroleum. All their phones? Yes, petroleum! You can preach at me when you’ve given up your own use of fossil fuels (50% of a barrel goes to things other than gas, diesel, and lubricating oils), nutters.