The world is living on borrowed time – fossil fuels must go

Fossil fuels haven’t even succeeded in meeting the energy needs of the world’s poor, while leaving them to suffer all the climate harm, ActionAid says. 

Emissions from the fossil fuel industry have unfairly and unjustly harmed most of the world’s poor communities, through loss and damage caused by floods, droughts, and cyclones, ActionAid says. Communities in oil-rich but energy-poor Nigeria know this reality all too well. Fossil fuel exploration in the Niger Delta has also left them dealing with the health and environmental destruction caused by gas flaring and water pollution even as the oil is carted away to Global North countries.  

“Gas flares are an oppression to this community. This community will never grow anything again. Something needs to be done about it,” says Alice Goldsmith, a community leader in the Niger Delta in Nigeria in a new film by ActionAid. 

“In Nigeria, oil is a curse, its extraction has destroyed livelihoods for entire communities who are now unable to farm crops or fish. Their health has been affected by drinking contaminated water and by the heat from the flares. This evil must be stopped.” says Blessing Ifemenam, a Program Advisor at ActionAid Nigeria. 

ActionAid says at COP28, countries must agree to phase out fossil fuels and embrace a just and equitable transition to renewables. Rich historical polluters must show leadership by shifting to renewables and offering financial and technical support to poor countries to make the shift. 

Teresa Anderson, Global Climate Justice Lead at ActionAid International, says: 

“Science has shown we’re living on borrowed time. The only way out of this hole we have dug ourselves into is to phase out fossil fuels fast, fair, and forever. It’s time to scale up renewables to address the energy needs of people and solve the climate crisis at the same time.  

“We can’t just announce targets for lower-income countries and not provide the money to make it happen. Global targets need to be ambitious, and they need to be financed, if they are to be worth more than the paper they’re written on. 

Furthermore, using carbon capture and storage to ‘abate’ your fossil fuels is like covering up your sweat-stained blouse with a blazer in the heat of COP28. It briefly covers up the problem while actually making it worse." 

To contact the ActionAid Press Office, email media-enquiries@actionaid.org or WhatsApp +263776665065. 

Teresa Anderson and Blessing Ifemenam are at COP28 and available for media interviews.