A hundred European elected officials call for a ban on new fossil projects
An oil well in Bahrain (illustrative image).
© Hasan Jamali/AP
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
A hundred European elected officials asked in a letter, Tuesday, February 7, to the European Commission, to prohibit the energy groups of the European Union from launching new fossil projects in the face of the "
climate peril
", in a letter.
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"
The European Union must move up a gear by forcing by law multinational fossil fuel companies and financial players to abandon any new project in coal, oil and gas
", ask the signatories, including MEPs, elected representatives French as well as several mayors.
They ask “
the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to urgently propose European legislation
” which “
prevents any new exploitation of fossil fuels
” by European groups such as “
TotalEnergies or Shell
”.
The initiative was launched by MEPs Raphaël Glucksmann (S&D group) and Karima Delli (EELV) as well as the mayor of Charleroi, Paul Magnette.
The letter is signed in particular by Yannick Jadot (EELV), Olivier Faure (PS), Delphine Batho (EELV) or the mayors of Strasbourg, Jeanne Barseghian (PS) and Grenoble, Eric Piolle (EELV).
“
Now is the time to act
”
The elected officials are also calling for legislation “
which prevents
the European financial sector
from providing financial services to this type of project and to companies which would not quickly give up developing this type of climate-killing project
”.
“
We are also asking Ursula von der Leyen to publicly defend the idea of a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty
,” detail the elected officials.
"
Now is the time to act, before it is definitely too late
", add the 100 signatories of the letter, which will be presented on Tuesday afternoon at an event in Brussels, called "
stop superprofits on the back of the planet
”.
The appeal comes as five renowned environmental defenders who have urged TotalEnergies and its financial backers to cease their "
climaticide
" projects in South Africa, regretted on Tuesday the lack of positive responses from the banks arrested.
Record profits for oil giants
The French multinational is due to present its annual financial results on Wednesday, after reporting in the third quarter a new record profit of 6.6 billion dollars thanks mainly to soaring gas prices since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
This Tuesday, the hydrocarbon giant BP announced on Tuesday that its profit excluding exceptional items, the indicator most followed by the markets, more than doubled over one year to 27.7 billion dollars, an absolute record.
accompanied by large distributions to its shareholders, and slows the pace of its energy transition, much to the chagrin of environmentalists.
This result is published in the wake of its compatriot Shell, which announced last week the highest profit in its history in 2022, at 42.3 billion dollars.
It also follows spectacular results from its American rivals ExxonMobil and Chevron.
►Also read: Report - In France, Extinction Rebellion activists attack BNP Paribas, financier of Total
(With AFP)
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