OCTOBER 20, 2023
The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative represents a novel and innovative approach to addressing climate change by specifically focusing on the supply side of fossil fuels, complementing existing efforts that target emissions and demand reduction. Launched by Tzeporah Berman (Awardee 2019) through the Climate Breakthrough Award program, this work aims to end the global expansion of fossil fuels and orchestrate their decline.
The Challenge
The world faces a critical disconnect in its approach to climate action. While countries make commitments to reduce emissions under the Paris Agreement, there are no international mechanisms to directly address fossil fuel production. This creates a dangerous blind spot: nations can pledge to cut emissions while simultaneously expanding their fossil fuel operations.
The problem is compounded by economic and political dependencies. Many countries, communities, and workers remain heavily reliant on fossil fuel revenues for energy, employment, and economic stability. Without coordinated international cooperation and support for transition, these regions face significant barriers to moving away from fossil fuel production, even when they recognize the climate imperative. The current system also lacks accountability. This fragmented approach to fossil fuel management, combined with active industry efforts to maintain business as usual, presents a clear threat to climate stability. However, it also reveals an opportunity: creating a coordinated international framework to directly address fossil fuel production could fill a critical gap in global climate action and enable a more just and managed transition.
The Initiative
Just as the world came together decades ago to control the threat of nuclear weapons, the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative proposes a similar approach to tackle fossil fuels. The initiative draws a direct parallel between the two global threats, and not without reason. According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report, climate change now poses an even greater risk than weapons of mass destruction.
The treaty’s framework rests on three fundamental pillars. First, it aims to stop the spread of new fossil fuel development. This means ending exploration for new oil, gas, and coal reserves that the world simply cannot afford to burn. The second pillar focuses on existing fossil fuel operations. Like the careful dismantling of nuclear stockpiles, this involves systematically winding down current fossil fuel production to align with climate safety limits. This means making tough but necessary decisions about regulations, extraction limits, and the removal of industry subsidies. The third pillar addresses perhaps the most crucial challenge: ensuring a fair and peaceful transition. The initiative recognizes that many regions and communities depend heavily on fossil fuel revenues. Rather than leaving these communities behind, the treaty emphasizes the need for economic diversification, support for renewable energy development, and concrete assistance for affected workers and regions.
The Vision
This groundbreaking initiative aims to achieve significant milestones over different timeframes. The long-term vision is ambitious: within a decade, the majority of fossil fuel-producing regions should have committed to international cooperation to align their production with Paris climate goals and have concrete wind-down plans in place. This would represent a fundamental shift in how the world manages fossil fuel production and could help avoid carbon emissions from currently undeveloped reserves.
The timing of this initiative is considered crucial, as the world faces a critical period when decisions about fossil fuel infrastructure will either lock in decades of emissions or set the stage for a managed transition to clean energy. By creating new forms of international cooperation and reframing fossil fuels as a global threat on par with nuclear weapons, the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty initiative aims to fill a critical gap in global climate action and provide a framework for the systematic phase-out of fossil fuel production worldwide.