| Civil Society Statement on Energy Access and Public Financing of Fossil Fuels |
 |
 |
 |
| Wednesday, 28 April 2010 08:00 |
|
We, the undersigned representatives of development, environment, faith-based, human rights, science, community, women’s and indigenous rights groups, are calling on international financial institutions to stop using public resources to subsidize the fossil fuel industry. These subsidies fuel overconsumption in wealthy countries, benefit an already highly profitable and well-established industry, and exacerbate many of the most urgent problems facing humanity today, not the least of which is climate change.
Therefore, in the spirit of the G20 and APEC pledges to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels, we call on governments to not support a general capital increase for any part of the World Bank Group unless the Bank Group ends support for all fossil fuel projects (other than assistance with transition such as mine closure) that do not have as their sole purpose energy access for the poor. Fossil fuel projects that expand energy access for the poor should only be supported after a full examination of all costs--including damages to public health, welfare and the environment--of the project and any new renewable and efficiency alternatives demonstrates that they are best alternative for delivering energy services to the poor.
Until such policies are approved, countries should direct funds requested by the Bank and other institutions for general capital increases to other financing mechanisms for supporting sustainable development, poverty reduction and clean energy. The members of the G-20 are currently in the process of identifying fossil fuel subsidies to be phased out. At the same time, the World Bank is engaged in consultations over a new energy policy and is requesting additional funding commitments for a general capital increase.
Our organizations, along with innovative policymakers and thought leaders around the world, know that there are numerous time-tested, effective approaches to capturing synergies among the challenges of expanding energy access for the poor, promoting sustainable development, and averting climate catastrophe. The World Bank Group, however, continues to promote interventions such as providing subsides for fossil fuels that trade these objectives off against each other. Until the World Bank Group can show that it can more effectively align these goals in its work, we believe that it does not merit a general capital increase.
To this end, the undersigned groups support directing additional international public financing through mechanisms that will not subsidize fossil fuels, and will oppose the Bank and other institutions’ requested capital increases until they adopt the positions described above.
Sign on list as of 4/25/10:
350 International Alliance for Global Justice International Asociación Interamericana para la Defensa del Ambiente (AIDA) International CEE Bankwatch Network International European Network on Debt and Development (Eurodad) International Greenpeace International Jubilee South – Asia/Pacific Movement on Debt & Development (JSAPMDD) International New Rules for Global Finance Coalition International Society for Threatened Peoples International Third World Network International World Wildlife Fund International Friends of the Earth Argentina Argentina GLOBAL 2000/Friends of the Earth Austria Austria VOICE Bangladesh Coalition of the Flemish North-South Movement Belgium Ecologia e Ação (ECOA) Brazil Action pour un Développement Equitable, Intégré et Durable (ADEID) Cameroon Cameroon Friends of the Earth Cyprus Cyprus NOAH/Friends of the Earth Denmark Denmark Community and Institutional Development Egypt CESTA/Friends of the Earth El Salvador El Salvador Friends of the Earth Europe Europe Amis de la Terre France Avocats Verts France Climate Action Network France France Helio International France The Greens Movement of Georgia/Friends of the Earth Georgia Georgia GegenStrömung - CounterCurrent Germany Urgewald Germany Bharat jan Vigyan Jatha India South Asian Dialogues on Ecological Democracy India Anti Debt Coalition Indonesia (KAU) Indonesia Institute for Essential Services Reform (IESR) Indonesia Campagna per la riforma della Banca mondiale (CRBM) Italy Sustainable Development Institute/ Friends of the Earth Liberia Liberia Consumers Association of Penang Malaysia Friends of the Earth Malaysia Malaysia Friends of the Earth Mauritius Mauritius ECOMUNIDADES, Red Ecologista de la Cuenca de Mexico Mexico JA! Justica Ambiental/ Friends of the Earth Mozambique Mozambique JEMED Niger Niger Friends of the Earth Norway Norway Derecho, Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (DAR) Peru Philippine Network on Climate Change Philippines Euronatura Portugal Centre for Civil Society Environmental Justice Project South Africa Earthlife Africa South Africa Groundwork South Africa South Durban Community Environmental Alliance South Africa Amigos de la Tierra España Spain Centre for Environmental Justice/Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Berne Declaration Switzerland Les Amis de la Terre Togo Togo National Association of Professional Environmentalists Uganda Christian Aid UK Friends of the Earth, England, Wales and Northern Ireland UK Global Witness UK Jubilee Debt Campaign UK Platform UK Practical Action UK The Corner House UK Africa Action USA Amazon Watch USA Bank Information Center USA California Communities Against Toxics USA Center for Biological Diversity USA Columban Center for Advocacy and Outreach USA Crude Accountability USA Environmental Defense Fund USA Friends of the Earth US USA Holy Spirit Missionary Sisters - JPIC USA Institute for Policy Studies, Sustainable Energy & Economy Network USA International Rivers USA Maryknoll Center USA Missionary Oblates USA National Wildlife Federation USA Natural Resources Defense Council USA Oil Change International USA Public Citizen USA Rainforest Action Network USA Sierra Club USA The Connect U.S. Fund USA Tibet Justice Center USA Tibet Third Pole USA Union of Concerned Scientists USA Women's Environment and Development Organization USA 
|
