Scottish Friends call for anti-fossil fuel treaty

Edinburgh Friends took part in the Global Week of Action for Climate Finance and a Fossil Free Future

Quakers in Edinburgh joined demonstrations calling for a treaty on the nonproliferation of fossil fuels.

The call was part of widespread action across Scotland in support of the Global Week of Action for Climate Finance and a Fossil Free Future, with demonstrations in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Stirling.

John Phillips, from the Quaker-initiated Stop EACOP Scotland group, campaigning against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), told the Friend: ‘Some of the demonstrations have been outside the Scottish parliament and outside the international conference centre which currently is hosting an arms fair. Quakers have been there, waving their banners, as well as at demonstrations calling for the treaty. The idea is to steadily raise the profile of these things so more people know about them.’

The campaigners, including Global Justice Now Scotland and Extinction Rebellion, also called on the Scottish government to say no to new fossil-fuel projects such as the proposed new gas power station in Peterhead.

Jane Herbstritt, from Global Justice Now, said: ‘We urgently need a global plan for a fast and fair phase-out of oil, gas and coal production. And this plan needs to be decided on and led by governments – not the fossil fuel industry.’

The global campaign for ‘this ground-breaking [nonproliferation] treaty proposal is supported by some of the most climate vulnerable countries’, she added. These include Vanuatu in the Pacific Islands, Antigua and Barbuda in the West Indies, and Colombia in South America. ‘Scotland is a country with a long history of disproportionately contributing climate-wrecking emissions from burning fossil fuels – but with incredible renewable energy resources now. This puts us in the best position going forward to encourage a planned global phase out of fossil fuels by championing the [treaty].’

Campaigners from Stop EACOP Scotland also displayed posters in the four large windows of Edinburgh Meeting House. ‘They highlight the pipeline,’ said John Phillips, ‘but they also reference other climate issues with QR codes that people can log into to get other information. The posters should be up for about a month.’

Stop EACOP Scotland is also urging the Tokio Marine insurance company not to provide cover for the pipeline, as well as supporting members of the Lothian Pension Fund to invest in ‘less risky corporations’ than French oil giant TotalEnergies. One of the companies responsible for EACOP, it is also driving ‘the extraction of fossil fuels from the Ugandan Murchison Falls National Park and related oil reserves on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo’, according to the Quaker group. If completed, EACOP could produce more than 379 million tonnes of climate-heating pollution, say the campaigners.

The global week of action also saw demonstrations in George Square in Glasgow, calling on Glasgow City Council and the Strathclyde Pension Fund to stop investing over £433 million in some of the world’s biggest fossil-fuel polluters. These include BP, Shell and TotalEnergies.

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