“Kiribati, as a nation faced with a very uncertain future, is calling for a global moratorium on new coal mines. It would be one positive step towards our collective global action against climate change and it is my sincere hope that you and your people would add your positive support in this endeavour,” said President Tong
“Let us join together as a global community and take action now. The construction of each new coal mine undermines the spirit and intent of any agreement we may reach, particularly in the upcoming COP 21 in Paris, whilst stopping new coal mine constructions now will make any agreement reached in Paris truly historical.
“As leaders, we have a moral obligation to ensure that the future of our children, our grandchildren and their children is safe and secure. For their sake, I urge you to support this call for a moratorium on new coal mines and coal mine expansions.”
The Executive Director of Greenpeace International, Dr. Kumi Naidoo, is in Kiribati to bear witness to the effects of climate change on the small island nation, where every high tide now carries with it the potential for damage and flooding. Sea level rise projected this century will present ‘severe flood and erosion risks’ for low-lying islands, with the potential also for degradation of freshwater resources, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s fifth assessment.
According to a January 2015 study published in Nature, 80% of global coal reserves, and more than 90% of US coal reserves, must remain unused in order to avoid the increased sea level rise and other catastrophic impacts of climate change above 2° C, which President Obama and other world leaders have committed to.
In the United States, Greenpeace and several other organizations have called for a moratorium on new federal coal leases. The Interior Department is currently holding listening sessions about its coal program, responding to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell’s call for an “open conversation” about federal coal leasing and climate change. About 40% of the coal mined in the United States belongs to US taxpayers, and the Obama administration has leased more than 2.2 billion tons of this federal coal, unlocking 3.9 billion metric tons of carbon pollution.
“We know the science and we know the end of the age of coal is coming. Scrambling to dig up more dirty coal can only be driven by ignorance or sheer disregard for the millions of people at risk from burning it. We need international leadership on this issue and a planned retreat from coal involving a just transition for existing workers and developed in consultation with affected communities,” said Greenpeace International Executive Director Kumi Naidoo.
The moratorium call is intended to sit outside the formal negotiating text of the CoP and stand alone as a clear action that all countries can commit to immediately.
Greenpeace is working with community groups and civil society in countries in the Pacific to demand climate justice. In June 2015, people from climate-impacted communities from Tuvalu, Kiribati, Fiji, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands as well as representatives from the Philippines vowed to seek ‘Climate Justice’ during a meeting on board the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior, The People’s Declaration for Climate Justice was handed over to the President of Vanuatu.
Contact:
Joe Smyth, Greenpeace USA Communications, 831-566-5647, [email protected]
