Thread by @PriceofOil

THREAD: News just broke from @Reuters of a potentially critical new initiative to be launched next month: the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (#BOGA). Read the article here: reuters.com/business/susta…

@Reuters #BOGA will be the 1st diplomatic initiative acknowledging the need for governments to manage the decline of oil and gas production as a key tool to address the #climate crisis. It’s a big deal and something we’ve been calling for for a long time.

@Reuters #BOGA has the potential to help reframe the global climate conversation to ensure phasing out production is seen as a key tenet of climate leadership. Why is this important?

@Reuters Ending the expansion of global fossil fuel production immediately is clearly necessary to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis. This spring, the @IEA showed that to limit warming to 1.5˚C, investment in new fossil fuel production must end now. priceofoil.org/2021/05/18/iea…

@Reuters @IEA The @IEA report follows our own research (priceofoil.org/2016/09/22/the…) and the Production Gap reports (productiongap.org/2020report/) among others in showing that there is no atmospheric space for the expansion of fossil fuel production.
#Keepitintheground

@Reuters @IEA Meanwhile, more than 700 civil society organizations around the world have signed the Lofoten Declaration calling for a managed decline of fossil fuel production. lofotendeclaration.org/#read
#BOGA

@Reuters @IEA And in April this year, 101 Nobel Laureates including the Dalai Lama urged world leaders to ban new expansion of fossil fuel production and to phase out existing production. fossilfueltreaty.org/nobel-letter
@fossiltreaty

@Reuters @IEA @fossiltreaty The head of the @IEA himself, @FatihBirol, has called for an end to investment in new fossil fuels to keep to the 1.5˚C threshold. theguardian.com/environment/20…

So, the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance will be a club of first movers that are starting to heed these calls and focus on tackling the production of fossil fuels as a tool to address the climate crisis and as core to climate leadership. #BOGA

This initiative has real potential but governments need to get it right. Here’s what we’ll be watching for as more info comes out about #BOGA:

First, #BOGA members must have enacted a full ban on new exploration and production licenses for oil and gas. The climate crisis means there is simply no room for new fossil fuel extraction projects. No loopholes. No delay.

Second, #BOGA must keep its integrity by not allowing countries -- even as so-called Associate Members -- whose policies are fundamentally at odds with the core membership criteria, and principle, of ending new oil and gas licenses.

Two examples:

New Zealand 🇳🇿, often hailed as a first mover, is busy issuing new gas exploration in Taranaki: stuff.co.nz/environment/cl…

The UK 🇬🇧 has recently refused to end exploration in the North Sea and is considering opening a new oil field @StopCambo

We hope that these countries, and many others, will change their policies to align with science and the urgency of the climate crisis. Until they do, they have no business being part of a leaders club.

Third: #BOGA needs to value equity and justice by recognizing the need for a differentiated approach to phasing out oil and gas production between economically diversified, wealthy countries and Global South countries.

A useful framework to think about these questions can be found in this paper by @FuelOnTheFire @KarthaSivan priceofoil.org/2020/06/01/equ…

If it sticks to ambition and integrity, #BOGA will help create momentum for other countries to join, redefine climate leadership, keep fossil fuel production central to climate discourse, create pressure on laggards, and support Global South countries to develop along a new path.

#BOGA can be seen as an ambitious answer to the delaying and greenwashing tactics of the US-led Net Zero Producers Forum, which is predicated on the mirage of “green” fossil fuel production and techno-fixes. priceofoil.org/2021/05/26/nzp…

We applaud Denmark and Costa Rica for their efforts to launch this initiative but we will remain vigilant to make sure it delivers on ambition, integrity and equity and does not open the door to greenwashing by oil and gas producers.