Demand that Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Refuse Funding From Fossil Fuel Corporations For COP26!

We no longer have time for fruitless conferences so that world leaders and fossil fuel executives can speak empty words without commiting to measurable action plans. In 1896,  Nobel Prize winning Swedish scientist, Svante Arrhenius, first described how carbon dioxide influences the climate. And so, since 1896, (over 130 years) humanity's capacity to warm the climate with our industrial carbon emissions has been understood. However, based on the trajectory first-world governments are on, resources are running out and no urgent action is being taken to prevent fossil fuel industries from drilling into the earth's surface. It is imperative to acknowledge that in order for a just transition to occur we must first call out the systems of power that have allowed for the continued exploitation of resources for centuries. It is no coincidence that these same systems of power are also allowing fossil fuel to have the most substantial and influential seats in the most significant gatherings in the world. That is the legacy of our present economic systems. We refuse to accept extinction as human fate. 

Millions of students took to the streets in the past few months alone. People raised billions of dollars in an attempt to reach politicians and policy makers. We signed innumerable petitions and online forms. We’ve pointed governments to the science. Wildfires, super storms, famine and drought torment the global south, Australia and California.  Food supplies and fresh water are disappearing. We the people, have attended panels, have been tossed around like trophies, been sources of inspiration and yet no serious action has been taken. That is because behind every major conference, progessive plan, and resolution is a fossil fuel company influencing and preventing change. It is time for us to rise against the fractured systems which have put profits and monetary gain over sustainable economic and social systems. Where the climate summits have failed us, we will give the platform back to the people. Where they refused to take action, we will make amends. Where they let suffering continue, we will do all that is in our power to help stop it. We demand just transition that prioritizes the most vulnerable people and repairs the effects of ongoing ecocide to maintain a livable, just planet. In order to do that we need to kick polluters out, once and for all.

I oppose all financing from fossil fuel corporations to fund, sponsor or influence the plans, negotiations and outcomes of COP26. I oppose the monopolization of green energy by these companies without being held accountable for the global catastrophe they have caused. The concerns put forward by billionaire executives do not represent me. Under the UN law, their interests should not have more weight than the people. I demand that the UNFCCC no longer permits executives, representatives, and officers of the fossil fuel industry to partake in negotiations and discussions with world leaders at the Conference of the Parties.