In May, two Guyanese citizens filed a constitutional court case that challenges Exxon's offshore oil drilling project as it exacerbates global warming & threatens #HumanRights.
Experts are now raising their voices in warning that the same project poses major environmental risks.
Despite dire climate warnings against new #FossilFuel development, Exxon's massive new oil project in Guyana is set to be the company’s biggest new oil play globally, releasing 125m tons of CO2 per year.
And it’s incredibly risky.
Exxon's assumptions that a blowout or large spill is unlikely reveal “ignorance of risk management fundamentals [...] We could have a problem similar to what we had with BP before & after the Macondo disaster.” — Robert Bea.
“Guyana is wholly unprepared for a Macondo. The results of a blowout were catastrophic in the United States despite ample money, experience, and infrastructure and Guyana doesn’t have any of that.”
Melinda Janki, International Lawyer.
“Exxon’s activities in Guyana pose grave material risks to the company from an economic, legal, and human rights standpoint [...] We believe it’s fundamentally a flawed mission” that should be shut down — said @andrewbehar, CEO of @AsYouSow.
➡️ theguardian.com/environment/20…
“We’re concerned that the people of Guyana are being asked to bet their economy and their future on oil when oil has no future in a carbon-constrained world.” @cmuffett1, President of @ciel_tweets.
Exxon is asking the people of Guyana to stake their future on oil & gas when oil & gas have no future.
Guyanese citizens filed a constitutional court case arguing that the buildout challenges the right to a healthy environment & sustainable development.
➡️ciel.org/news/guyana-co…
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#COP29 begins tomorrow in Baku 🇦🇿 & we are already seeing an attempt to weaken effective climate action.
The #Article6o4 Supervisory Body adopted dangerous standards on methodologies & removal activities – now they might be rubber-stamped without any oversight by States .
A 🧵
#COP29 is expected to reach an agreement on carbon markets, which should be called out for what they are: a dangerous distraction allowing countries to trade greenhouse gas emissions “credits” rather than reduce emissions to help achieve climate goals. ciel.org/cop-29-finance/
🤓 Reminder 🤓
#Article6o4 of the Paris Agreement established a new intl. carbon crediting mechanism.
The Article 6.4 mechanism has a Supervisory Body tasked with developing and supervising the requirements and processes needed to operationalize the mechanism.
What do Canadian start-up Planetary Technologies & the @EnvAgency have in common? A secret marine geoengineering experiment involving dumping magnesium hydroxide into the sea off the coast of Cornwall 🇬🇧.
In March 2023, the St Ives Bay community learned that Planetary Technologies had been secretly operating an ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) experiment in their beautiful Bay 🦭🌊 in an attempt to draw down #CarbonDioxide from the atmosphere and store it in the ocean.
Reminder: Marine geoengineering activities - like this Enhanced Ocean Alkalinity project:
⚠️ Are a dangerous distraction from real solutions to the climate crisis & the urgent need to phase out fossil fuels.
⚠️ Go against the global moratorium on geoengineering @UNBiodiversity.
The @EUCouncil just adopted the European Union’s proposal to leave the controversial #EnergyCharterTreaty, an international agreement protecting fossil fuel investments.
We celebrate this victory for people, the environment & the climate.
#ExitECT
The cornerstone of the #EnergyCharterTreaty has been the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (#ISDS) mechanism that allows companies to sue governments through private arbitration courts if they pass or enforce laws that affect the companies’ investments.
“The EU’s decision to leave the #EnergyCharterTreaty reflects the recognition that a regime designed to protect fossil fuel investments is fundamentally incompatible with the climate action needed to protect people and the planet," CIEL @NikkiReisch.
CIEL's @joie_chowdhury is at @ITLOS_TIDM 🇩🇪 awaiting the first-ever #Climate #AdvisoryOpinion.
The #ITLOSAO will spell out States' legal responsibilities to reduce #GreenhouseGas Emissions to protect the #Oceans.🌊
Follow along here 🧵 for live updates 👇
Excitement is running high at the @ITLOS_TIDM, the hearing will be packed.
Today is a testament to the resilience of @cosis_ccil, an alliance of9⃣small island States🇦🇬🇹🇻🇵🇼🇳🇺🇻🇺🇱🇨🇻🇨🇰🇳🇧🇸.
We are honored to be in solidarity with these leaders in the fight for climate & #OceanJustice.
#ITLOSAO doesn’t start until 12 CEST.
👀📺 Watch live:
Here's a bit more background before today's historic #AdvisoryOpinion by @ITLOS 👇
Nearly 200 fossil fuel lobbyists registered for #INC4, outnumbering national delegations, scientists, and Indigenous Peoples at the #PlasticsTreaty negotiations in Ottawa.
🎥Watch Civil society and Indigenous Peoples’ reactions 👇
There is too much at stake at #INC4 to advance a #PlasticsTreaty. CIEL’s @rachelradvany tells us why it is impossible to ignore the power dynamics that exist in these negotiations and obstruct meaningful progress to address the #PlasticsCrisis.
Communities heavily impacted by plastics, should have a seat at the table of the #PlasticsTreaty negotiation. Suzanne Smoke, Anishinaabe Indigenous Knowledge Keeper, Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus @S_N_N_1 says: Enough! We must protect our future generations.
🔎 A closer look at yesterday’s @BerkeleyLab report on #PlasticsAndClimate which reveals plastics are at the heart of #ClimateChange & undermine our ability to keep global temperature rise below 1.5°C degrees.
🧵bit.ly/3JmKpXg
🔑 Key Finding: If plastic production keeps expanding, it could account for nearly one-third of the Earth’s remaining carbon budget by 2050.
We need a #PlasticsTreaty that
🏭 Halts the buildout
❌ Limits and reduces plastic production
🧪Covers the full plastics life cycle
🚨 In 2019 @CIEL_tweets warned urgent, ambitious action was critical to prevent plastics' climate impacts.
📈 Yesterday’s @BerkeleyLab report reveals plastic production alone could account for 1/5 of remaining CO2 budget.