CITY OF SEBASTOPOL
CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA ITEM
Meeting Date: October 4, 2022
To: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
From: Climate Action Committee / Kari Svanstrom, Planning Director Subject: Consideration of Endorsing the Fossil Fuel Non-proliferation Treaty (FFNPT) Recommendation : Authorize the Mayor to sign the letter of support Funding: Currently Budgeted: _______ Yes _______ No ___X__ N/A Net General Fund Cost: $
Account Code/Costs authorized in City Approved Budget (if applicable) __AK______ (verified by Administrative Services Department) INTRODUCTION/PURPOSE:
This item is for City Council to Discuss and Consider Endorsing the Fossil Fuel Non-proliferation Treaty (FFNPT).
DISCUSSION:
This proposal is to endorse the call for an international treaty modeled on the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, to phase out the extraction and use of fossil fuels with a truly just transition for workers and their families. It is a simple matter of voting to do so and filling out the endorsement form at https://fossilfueltreaty.org/#endorse The goal is for Sebastopol to be on record as endorsing the call for a FFNPT. This may seem symbolic, but there is a strong staff at FFNPT working to make the treaty a reality. There will be a strong push in the lead up to and at the Conference of the Parties (COP) 27 in Egypt in November.
According to the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, coal, oil, and gas are responsible for 86% of all carbon dioxide emissions in the past decade. Phasing out fossil fuel production and fast-tracking progress toward safer and more cost-effective alternatives will require unprecedented international cooperation.
There are three pillars of the FFNPT:
1. Prevent the proliferation of coal, oil, and gas by ending all new exploration and production;
2. Phase-out existing production of fossil fuels in line with the 1.5C global climate goal;
3. Fast-track real solutions and a truly just transition for all workers, their families, and their communities.
If the treaty is successful, it can help Sebastopol by virtue of the fact that the international community has taken serious action with regard to fossil fuel phase-out. This action is motivated by concern about the climate crisis.
The Climate Action Committee (CAC) reviewed the proposal at its July 27 and August 10, 2022 meetings, and voted to recommend the City Council endorse the FFNPT.
GOALS:
This action supports the following City Council Goals:
Goal 5 - Provide Open and Responsive Municipal Government Leadership, including Agenda Item Number 9 Agenda Item Number 9
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*continued - October 18, 2022
Goal 5.1.4 Enhance the use of the City of Sebastopol Committees, Commissions and Boards.
General Plan Actions:
Sebastopol General Plan states that the city intends to “establish aggressive goals that demonstrate the City’s firm and ongoing commitment to climate action planning,”
Action COS 8e: “Consider adopting GHG reduction goals that meet or exceed the RCPA Climate Action Plan goals.” Goal COS 9: Promote Conservation of Energy and Other Natural Resources Policy COS 9-7: Promote efforts and programs, including increased access to clean technologies such as electric vehicles and charging stations, to encourage residents, businesses, and local organizations to use clean energy sources to supplant dirty technologies.
and Climate Action Framework Goals:
The Framework encourages collaboration with other organizations and levels of government in efforts to address the climate crisis. Although it does not specifically mentions endorsing calls for international treaties, such an endorsement would be consistent with the goals and intent of the Climate Action Framework.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
As of the writing of this staff report, the City has not received any public comment. However, staff anticipates receiving public comment from interested parties following the publication and distribution of this staff report.
Such comments will be provided to the City Council as supplemental materials before or at the meeting. In addition, public comments may be offered during the public comment portion of the agenda item.
PUBLIC NOTICE:
This item was noticed in accordance with the Ralph M. Brown Act and was available for public viewing and review at least 72 hours prior to schedule meeting date.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no direct fiscal impact associated with the recommended action tonight.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the City Council endorse of a call for an international treaty to phase out fossil fuels.
Attachments:
Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty summary
Climate Action Committee Equity Matrix
Additional Information: https://fossilfueltreaty.org/
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ALIGNING FOSSIL FUEL
PRODUCTION WITH 1.5°C
AND THE PARIS AGREEMENT
BRIEFING NOTE:
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2 BRIEFING NOTE
The COP26 summit will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. As world
leaders, countries and citizens prepare to converge in
Glasgow, renewed focus is needed to tackle the main
cause of the climate crisis — the production of coal, oil and gas. Success at COP26 calls for new efforts to phase down fossil fuel production in line with 1.5°C and to enable a globally just and equitable transition that leaves no country behind.
CLIMATE CODE RED FOR HUMANITY
Climate change is widespread, rapid, and intensifying and some trends are now irreversible, at least during the present time frame, according to the latest IPCC Working Group I report.1 The IPCC’s findings are nothing less than "a code red for humanity". “The alarm bells are deafening, and the evidence is irrefutable”, according to UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, “we must act decisively now, to keep 1.5°C alive”.2
THE MAIN CAUSE OF CLIMATE CHANGE IS FOSSIL
FUELS
Keeping 1.5°C in reach will require urgent action to tackle the main cause of the climate emergency — fossil fuels. The fossil fuel industry is responsible for around three-quarters of all historical carbon dioxide emissions since the Industrial Revolution.3 In 2015 — the year the Paris Agreement was signed — the fossil fuel industry and its products accounted for over 90% of industrial emissions, and roughly 70% of all human emissions.4
THE FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY IS PLANNING TO VASTLY
EXCEED THE 1.5°C PARIS GOAL
Despite the climate emergency, governments are planning production that will result in more than double the emissions by 2030 than is consistent with limiting warming to 1.5°C and averting catastrophic climate disruption. Emissions from existing production capacity alone would make it impossible to stay within that threshold. To limit warming to below 1.5°C, the world will need to decrease fossil fuel production by at least 6% per year between 2020 and 2030, according to the UNEP Production Gap Report.5
PHASING DOWN FOSSIL FUELS REQUIRES “SUPPLYSIDE” MEASURES TO COMPLEMENT EMISSION
REDUCTIONS
Over the last few decades, negotiations have focused on reducing emissions rather than the production of fossil fuels.
The success of these efforts has been limited by industry, which has continued to lock-in production, while limiting public understanding about their role in the crisis. To stay below
1.5°C, we need to complement measures to reduce emissions and the “demand” for fossil fuels, with measures to reduce production and the “supply” of fossil fuels. Doing so is cost effective, prevents “lock-in” of future emissions for technical, economic, legal and political reasons, and reduces the risks of delaying action (box 1).
A GLOBALLY JUST TRANSITION FROM FOSSIL
FUELS REQUIRES NEW FORMS OF INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION
A fast, fair and 1.5°C aligned phase-down will require
international cooperation to prevent the proliferation of fossil fuels, manage the decline of production, and enable just and equitable transitions. In particular, cooperation is needed to enable countries to reduce their mutual dependence on fossil fuels, support workers and communities, transition rapidly to renewable energy, and build more diverse economies. This in turn will require removing barriers to the transition by rethinking the rules relating to debt, trade and finance that are delaying the transition. We need a transition that leaves no country behind.
THE UNFCCC AND ITS PARIS AGREEMENT HAVE AN
IMPORTANT ROLE TO PLAY
Existing arrangements, including the UNFCCC and Paris
Agreement, can play a key role. Parties can consider addressing fossil fuels through:
• Scaled up domestic measures to reduce fossil fuel supply or dependence (box 2);
• Revised nationally determined contributions or NDCs;
• Long-term mid-century low greenhouse gas development
strategies;
• Processes addressing response measures and economic
diversification;
• Contributions of finance, technology and capacity;
• Preventing offsetting rules that support continued
extraction and use of fossil fuels;
• Reporting under the enhanced transparency framework;
• The Global Stocktake of the Paris Agreement, 2021-2023.
In Glasgow, parties are encouraged to initiate and accelerate discussions about ways the UNFCCC and its Paris Agreement can rapidly scale up efforts to phase down fossil fuels.
BOX 1 — RISKS OF DELAYING A GLOBAL JUST
TRANSITION FROM FOSSIL FUELS INCLUDE:
Making the inevitable transition harder
Creating stranded assets and risking financial turmoil
Increasing risks to workers and communities
Limiting and delaying the expansion of renewable
energy
Limiting and delaying economic diversification into
more sustainable sectors
Consolidating powerful pro-fossil fuel political
constituencies
Technical, economic, legal and political lock-in
Increasing the risk of dangerous geo-engineering
Risking catastrophic global heating well above 1.5ºC
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3 Source: Table 5.1, UNEP Production Gap Report 2019
BUT ADDITIONAL MEASURES WILL BE REQUIRED TO
ACHIEVE THE PARIS AGREEMENT’S GOALS
While the Paris Agreement requires all countries to take steps to reduce their domestic emissions, it does not directly constrain the market forces and short-term financial incentives that continue to drive expansion of the world’s fossil fuel infrastructure, which risks locking the world into a highemissions trajectory.
Fossil fuels are nowhere mentioned in the Paris Agreement or UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. Additional
measures are needed to complement the Paris Agreement in three areas:
1. End new exploration and production. A world-wide
moratorium on the development of all new oil, gas and
coal reserves is needed to prevent expansion of unburnable fossil fuel inventories; to protect workers, communities and assets from becoming stranded; and avoid locking
in catastrophic and irreversible global heating. The
International Energy Agency confirms the world has a
“viable but narrow” pathway to 1.5°C, but this pathway
“includes, from today, no investment in new fossil fuel supply projects, and no further final investment decisions for new unabated coal plants.”6
2. Phase out existing stockpiles and production of fossil fuels. Phasing out fossil fuel production in line with 1.5°C will require limits on extraction, removal of production subsidies, dismantling unnecessary infrastructure and
shifting support to safer and more sustainable alternatives.
As noted, the UNEP Production Gap Report confirms that
fossil fuel production must decline by at least 6% per year to avoid more than a one-third risk of exceeding 1.5°C — or roughly 50% by 2030.
3. Accelerate a just and equitable transition. The scale of the challenge demands urgent collective action that
addresses the needs of dependent workers, communities
and countries. In particular, this requires support for poorer and more dependent countries to help workers and communities, transition towards 100% renewable energy,
and diversify their economies. This includes countries
dependent on imports and exports of fossil fuels.
AN EFFECTIVE TRANSITION MUST BE BASED IN
EQUITY
An effort to phase-down fossil fuels and implement solutions through multilateral cooperation is more likely to be effective if it is fair. To build real momentum, we need a vision for a global just transition that is universally shared. In this transition, wealthier countries with lower dependence,
and higher financial and institutional capacity, will need to transition the most rapidly. Conversely, poorer countries with higher dependence and lower capacity will need greater international support. To transition at scale will require a major scaling up of financial, technological and capacitybuilding support by wealthy countries to those with more limited capacity.7
BOX 2 — DOMESTIC MEASURES TO REDUCE
FOSSIL FUEL SUPPLY OR DEPENDENCE
CATEGORY SUPPLY-SIDE POLICY
Regulatory
approaches
Limit exploration, production, or export (e.g. via
moratoria, bans, or quotas)
Prohibit development or limit permits for specific
resources, infrastructure (oil pipelines and terminals, coal ports, etc.) or use of certain technologies Ensure comprehensive (upstream and downstream)
emissions assessment in environmental impact
reviews of new fossil fuel supply projects
Economic
instruments
Remove fossil fuel producer subsidies
Introduce fees or taxes for fossil fuel production or
export, and increase royalties
Government provision of goods
and services
Assist workers and communities transitioning out
of fossil fuel production
Divest state-controlled investment funds from
companies involved in fossil fuel production
Restrict financing for fossil fuel supply projects
through government-owned finance institutions
(e.g. export credit agencies, and national and multilateral development banks) Information and
transparency
Require corporate discolsure of long-term climate-related risks associated risks associated with capital-intensive upstream production and exploration (Carbon Tracker Initiative 2019a) Set targets for reducing fossil fuel production,
and report on progress alongside existing climate
mitigation accounts (e.g. by using an extraction
based emissions accounting framework) (Steininger
et al. 2016)
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BUILDING BLOCKS FOR
INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION
4 BRIEFING NOTE
A fair and 1.5°C aligned global transition will require new levels and forms of international cooperation based on new norms and legal arrangements. Key building blocks in this effort include:
New country coalitions. International cooperation often starts when a small set of concerned countries join to share experiences, explore cooperation and begin the process of defining new norms, rules and institutions. A number of new groups have emerged, including most recently the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA) (box 3).
Improved arrangements for accountability and
transparency. Lessons learned from efforts to tackle other global threats, such as the proliferation of nuclear weapons and depletion of the ozone layer, demonstrate the importance of government transparency. A new Global Registry of
Fossil Fuels (box 4) will offer standardised, comprehensive, government-vetted, publicly available data on fossil fuels reserves and help to plan a transition.
Global Commission on Fossil Fuels. Building on efforts to create an initial club of countries and enhance transparency, an important next step could be the creation of a genuinely global dialogue, to build momentum and support for the transition.
This could draw on precedents like the World Commission on Dams as well as the international humanitarian conferences that helped initiate new legal agreements on nuclear weapons and landmines.
New legal mandates and arrangements. The world
ultimately needs a formal process to deliver a negotiated legal instrument on the managed transition from fossil fuels.
This will require building political momentum both within and outside the United Nations community. First-mover
countries will be critical players, but the success of their diplomatic outreach will depend on international and regional coordination with civil society groups, research organisations, industry groups, public institutions, and subnational
governments, even in the face of resistance from some of the most powerful countries.
LEARNING THE LESSONS OF OTHER TREATY
REGIMES
While there are important differences between the fossil fuel system and other dangerous products and infrastructure, important lessons can be learned from other international treaties, such as those addressing landmines, ozone depleting substances or nuclear weapons. Under the right conditions, treaties do not necessarily take long to negotiate. The original Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty took around three years.
Nor do they require the support of all major players at the outset to be successful. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was led by non-nuclear armed states, as a way to comprehensively prohibit states from participating in nuclear weapons activities. Based on the experience of these other treaties we are advocating for a treaty to phase down fossil fuels and accelerate the transition for all countries. ion that “leaves no country behind”.
BOX 3 — THE BEYOND OIL AND GAS ALLIANCE
The new Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA) is a
promising new initiative designed to unify a group of
first mover countries in a new international climate
leadership initiative to address the need for a managed decline of oil and gas, the various pathways and the
policies and finance required for reaching the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Announced in September
2020, by Denmark and Costa Rica, it will be launched
at COP26, with other countries and jurisdictions who
share their intention of ending the production of fossil fuels in line with the Paris Agreement.
See www.beyondoilandgasalliance.com for more
BOX 4 — A GLOBAL REGISTRY OF FOSSIL FUELS
There is currently very limited publicly accessible,
comprehensive, granular information on fossil fuel
reserves and resources. However, historic efforts
to tackle global threats, including the proliferation
of nuclear weapons, demonstrate that government
transparency and accountability is an important
foundation and precursor for broader international
cooperation. A Global Registry of Fossil Fuels is needed as an international transparency and accountability
mechanism for fossil fuel supply.
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5 The Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative aims to build on these experiences to foster a global equitable transition away from fossil fuels to clean, low-carbon energy and
economies. The initiative will spur international cooperation to end new development of fossil fuels, phase out existing production within the agreed climate limit of 1.5°C, and develop plans to support workers, communities and countries dependent on fossil fuels to create secure and healthy
livelihoods.
The treaty campaign is building on the examples of the Nobel Prize-winning international campaigns to ban land-mines and nuclear weapons, which each resulted in new global treaties.
It is developing as a partnership of civil society organisations, research and policy institutions, Indigenous Peoples,
organised labour movements, and other groups and its goals have recently received support of over one hundred Nobel Laureates, thousands of scholars and elected representatives from around the world.
As well as advocating for the treaty, the concerted push for a new legal arrangements can also serve a number of purposes in itself. These include a) reinforcing the narrative that fossil fuel industry and infrastructure is a major global risk; b) clarifying the need for large-scale, global collective action to tackle the fossil fuel industry; c) realising new opportunities to engage with states about their responsibility to implement supply-side measures; d) embedding the need for equity in the discussion, particularly for supply-side countries; e) exploring ways to meet the needs of fossil fuel dependent countries; f) linking multiple local campaigns with an overarching global demand; and g) connecting opportunities at the sub-national, national and global level into a more unified global campaign.
Just as fifty years ago the world needed a treaty to defuse the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction, the world today needs a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
For more information on the Treaty Initiative see
www.fossilfueltreaty.org.
To be successful, COP26 in Glasgow must make meningful
progress in tackling the single greatest cause of the climate crisis. Governments wishing to lead the way and take action to align fossil fuel production with 1.5°C can consider a number of actions:
• Publicly endorse the need for a Fossil Fuel Non
Proliferation Treaty or use language explicitly
acknowledging the need for global cooperation and new
agreements and treaties on transitioning from fossil fuels:
e.g. “Call for enhanced and focussed international cooperation and agreements to transition from the production of fossil fuels in line with 1.5 degrees warming, and enable a globally just transition.”
• Join or convene with other governments as leading
a club of countries focussed on a globally just transition from fossil fuels, particularly on the elements requiring international action, cooperation and support. This could be through existing groups such as BOGA, new ones, or
groups within existing forums (e.g. UNFCCC or UNGA).
• Publicly endorse the need for a Global Registry of
Fossil Fuels, and support the idea that it should be hosted by an independent body such as UNEP.
• Include supply-side actions and plans for
international cooperation on fossil fuel supply in
submissions and proposals to the UNFCCC, including in
their NDCs.
• Offer to use the good offices of the government or
head of state to host a Global Commission, or global
report, on the issue of the non-proliferation of fossil fuels. • Commit to the supply side policies listed above
domestically, particularly a moratorium on new
expansion.
A FOSSIL FUEL
NON-PROLIFERATION
TREATY
ACTIONS THAT
GOVERNMENTS CAN TAKE
RIGHT NOW
1. IPCC (2021) Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press. In Press.
2. United Nations, " Secretary-General Calls Latest IPCC Climate Report ‘Code Red for Humanity’, Stressing ‘Irrefutable’ Evidence of Human Influence" (2021)
3. Global Carbon Project. (2020). Supplemental data of Global Carbon Budget 2020 (Version 1.0) [Data set]. Global Carbon Project. https://doi.org/10.18160/gcp-2020
4. CDP, Carbon Majors Report (2017) https://www.cdp.net/en/reports/downloads/2327
5. SEI, IISD, ODI, E3G, and UNEP. (2021). The Production Gap Report 2021. http://productiongap.org/2021report
6. IEA, “Net Zero by 2050” (Paris: IEA, 2021), https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050.
7. Greg Muttitt & Sivan Kartha (2020) Equity, climate justice and fossil fuel extraction: principles for a managed phase out, Climate Policy, 20:8, 1024-1042.
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Vanuatu makes historic call for treaty to end the fossil fuel era — The Fo... https://fossilfueltreaty.org/vanuatu/#press-release 2 of 5 9/27/2022, 8:56 AM
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Vanuatu makes historic call for treaty to end the fossil fuel era — The Fo... https://fossilfueltreaty.org/vanuatu/#press-release 3 of 5 9/27/2022, 8:56 AM
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Vanuatu makes historic call for treaty to end the fossil fuel era — The Fo... https://fossilfueltreaty.org/vanuatu/#press-release 4 of 5 9/27/2022, 8:56 AM
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Vanuatu makes historic call for treaty to end the fossil fuel era — The Fo... https://fossilfueltreaty.org/vanuatu/#press-release 5 of 5 9/27/2022, 8:56 AM
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Sebastopol Climate Action Committee Equity Evaluation Matrix Project/Program/Policy: Endorsement of call for international fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty Working Group/Lead Members: Full Committee; introduced by Woody Hastings Timeline Summary: Endorsement of call for international fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty Who might be
affected by this
project?*
Potential benefits
of project
Potential harms
of project
How has this
affected group
been involved in
designing this
project?
How has this
community been
able to provide
feedback
regarding this
project?
Comments/analysis/plans
There will be no local
impacts any time
soon. If a treaty
becomes reality, the
climate crisis may be
on a track toward
mitigation.
Significant turning
point in
international
cooperation;
recognition of
Sebastopol as a
collaborator on
actions beyonds
its borders.
Economic
disruptions during
the transition;
possible fossil fuel
“solutions” that
introduce new
problems.
The FFNPT was
initiated by island
nations, made up
of low income
people of color
who are the first
to feel the worst
of climate impacts
and who have
been least
responsible for
the crisis.
There will be
opportunities for
the public to
comment in the
course of bringing
the proposal to
the City Council;
the FFNPT staff
are working hard
to publicize the
effort.
*Please review this list when discerning potential effects of projects (but also include any other groups not listed here):
local tribes/indigenous groups, BIPOC persons, non-English speakers, undocumented persons, renters, unhoused persons, labor groups, youth, Latinx persons. ADD LINES TO TABLE AS NEEDED.
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Are fiscal implications regressive or
progressive in nature?
Analysis: n/a Commentary: Whether or not the treaty is regressive will depend on the nature of the treaty negotiations.
It will be very important that NGOs engage robustly in
order to ensure that marginalized, vulnerable, and
historically underserved communities benefit.
Will this project/program/policy
serve a predominantly low-income
or minority neighborhood?
Analysis: n/a Commentary: The intent is to have an international treaty that benefits all communities throughout the
world, including low income, minority, BIPOC. details
of how communities are benefited or burdened will
emerge during future international negotiations.
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