G7 leaders: No more stereotyped languages on climate change – Say goodbye to fossil fuels!

This Sunday the G7 leaders will meet for 2 days in Bavaria, Germany, to discuss everything from health, gender inequality and climate change. 

The Greens hope that this time world leaders will discuss the global economy and foreign policy challenges in the context of a global warming, which only exacerbates these issues. Continuing to tackle every key subjects separately without realising that all of these are linked – that climate change will have a disastrous impact on our economy, our health, exacerbate conflicts across the world and increase migration flows and (gender) inequality – does not make any sense.

At this meeting - and only six months before the UN climate conference in Paris - global leaders should send clear signals about the seriousness of their commitment to tackle the issue.

As for the EU Heads of States, Hollande, Cameron, Renzi and Merkel cannot continue saying that climate change is something they will fight against while continuing to promote fossil fuels which we know are the main cause of global warming.

In their manifesto, UK Prime Minister Cameron and his party promise that they want to limit global warming to below 2°C but at the same time say that they will pursue the development of shale gas and drilling on the North Sea! Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi calls climate change ‘the challenge of our time’ and yet continues insisting on oil drilling. And French President François Hollande – who recently travelled to the Caribbean islands to encourage the region to agree on an ambitious global deal at the end of the year – cannot on one hand quote the scientists’ warnings that the main reason for climate change is the burning of fossil fuels while letting French company total get a deal for offshore drilling in Cuba!

This 2 day meeting must serve building momentum for a universal climate agreement and a transition away from dirty fossil fuels to a 100 per cent renewable energy future. While another UN climate session have started in Bonn a few days ago, the G7 leaders must do their utmost for the agreement in Paris to not only be a political success that saves the negotiating process as it usually does, but that it achieves its objective which is to accelerate the transition so that disastrous climate impacts can be avoided.

This weekend join our online action on Facebook and Twitter  using #climatemoment to remind our leaders about the seriousness of the issue and to demand them that they put an end to fossil fuels.