Vanuatu is calling on other nations to join it in establishing a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty.
This has been proposed as an international mechanism to address the source of 86 percent of the CO2 emissions that cause climate change.
The President of Vanuatu Nikenike Vurobaravu made the historic call today at the United Nations General Assembly.
Nikenike Vurobaravu, President of the Republic of Vanuatu, addresses the general debate of the General Assembly’s seventy-seventh session. Photo: UN Photo/Cia Pak
He is also to launch a call for a treaty to phase out fossil fuels at the 2022 Global Citizen Festival in Central Park in New York this Saturday.
"Every day we are experiencing more debilitating consequences of the climate crisis. Fundamental human rights are being violated, and we are measuring climate change not in degrees of Celsius or tons of carbon, but in human lives. This emergency is of our own making."
Widespread flooding as Cyclone Harold nears Vanuatu in 2020 Photo: VBTC
"Our youth are terrified of the future world we are handing to them through expanding fossil fuel dependency, compromising intergenerational trust and equity. We call for the development of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to phase down coal, oil and gas production," Vurobaravu said.
The call for the treaty has already been endorsed by more than 65 cities and sub-national governments around the globe, including London, Lima, Los Angeles, Kolkata, Paris, and the Hawai'i State Legislature.
Recently the proposal has also been supported by the Vatican and the World Health Organisation.