DEFENDING THE AMAZON MEANS: NOT A SINGLE NEW OIL WELL & GENUINE INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
Sisters and brothers, receive a greeting from the Amazon rainforest.
August was a month of shared struggles, from the Amazon to Cambodia, and of firm steps toward a fossil-free future. In Bogotá, during the 5th Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) Presidential Summit, more than fifty Indigenous and civil society organizations raised our voices to demand that the Amazon be recognized as the world’s first fossil fuel exclusion zone. Although governments did not assume this commitment, we succeeded in putting the issue at the center of political and media debate, making it clear that defending the Amazon means: not a single new well and genuine international cooperation. Now it is up to us to bring that demand to Belém, where COP30 must correct this omission and demonstrate the global leadership that the climate crisis requires, starting by protecting the Amazon, the living heart of our world.
Other regions also bring signs of hope. In Siem Reap, Cambodia, a national workshop brought together government, youth, and Indigenous leaders to chart a path toward a fossil-free future. In Geneva, the growing social pressure for a global plastics treaty reminds us that this is not only about pollution, but also about a new frontier for the expansion of the oil industry that we must stop, reinforcing the urgency of a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
A key space to unite these struggles and chart the course to make this Treaty a reality will be theVirtual Summit to be held from September 8–15, which I will have the honor of opening alongside other allied voices.
It will be the moment to keep multiplying our strength and prepare for the next phase: securing, by 2026, a negotiating mandate for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to help us protect life and everything we love.
Olivia Bisa President of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Chapra Nation, Peru
A FOSSIL-FREE FUTURE IS ESSENTIAL FOR CAMBODIA’S PEOPLE, CULTURE, AND PROSPERITY
At the country’s first national workshop in Siem Reap, leaders from government, civil society, youth, indigenous groups, business, and media came together to chart a path toward a fossil-free and resilient future.
Cambodia’s economy — built on agriculture, tourism, and cultural heritage — is deeply vulnerable to climate change and global fuel price shocks. But with vast solar potential and growing green investment, the transition to clean energy is also a powerful opportunity.
PLASTIC IS NOT JUST A POLLUTION PROBLEM; IT’S A FOSSIL FUEL PROBLEM
As oil and gas companies lose ground in the energy business, they’re ramping up plastic production to stay profitable. Unless we act now, plastic production is set to triple, which could lock us into decades of emissions and environmental harm. A strong Global Plastics Treaty is our chance to stop it at the source.
At the OTCA Presidents’ Summit in Bogotá, the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and the Assembly for a Fossil Fuel Free Amazon held dialogues with authorities, Indigenous decision makers, and civil society to demand an end to dependence on oil, gas, and coal.
The goal: for the Bogotá Declaration to establish the Amazon as the world’s first fossil fuel exclusion zone.
The climate crisis is accelerating, and fossil fuels remain its core driver. Our network understands this — the question is no longer if we must phase out fossil fuels, but how, when, and through what process. That’s where our upcoming virtual summit — and your leadership — comes in. Join us to plot the way to a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“Andrés Gómez, who previously worked as a petroleum engineer for both Ecopetrol and Halliburton, became fed up with the industry’s destruction. He decamped to join the popular resistance and now works as the Latin American coordinator for the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. In yet another move aligning the state apparatus with the social movements, Colombia became the first fossil fuel–producing country to endorse this initiative — for treating fossil fuel reserves as akin to nuclear bombs — during the COP negotiations in late 2023. But Gómez frets over the lingering danger.”
“Further, Malaysia can emulate other Global South producers such as Colombia that have endorsed calls for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty — which will establish a global framework for an equitable energy transition.”
"More than 50 organizations have called for a declaration to phase out fossil fuels; accepting this request would have been a true act of global leadership," said Alex Rafalowicz , executive director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty. According to Rafalowicz, " COP30 in Belém must correct this omission and pave the way for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, a key instrument to facilitate cooperation toward a just transition that protects the Amazon and the world."
SOCIALS WORTH SHARING
By joining the Fossil Fuel Treaty, Cambodia can phase out coal, oil, and gas
Cambodia has the opportunity to shape what a just transition looks like.
