Res 1469-2020

By Council Members Kallos and Cornegy Whereas, The usage of fossil fuels has driven climate warming to catastrophic levels and has created a cascade of consequences, such as droughts, fires, and severe storms across our country, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists; and Whereas, According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, "climate change is already happening" with New York's coast having already risen more than a foot since 1900; and Whereas, In 2019, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced "Every day we wait is a day our planet gets closer to the point of no-return," highlighting the growing challenges that stem from the current climate crisis; and Whereas, The Thomson Reuters Foundation has predicted more than 3,000 New Yorkers could die each year from intense heat due to climate change in the future; and Whereas, The main cause of the climate crisis is the usage of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, which are responsible for almost 80 percent of all carbon dioxide emissions, according to the United States Energy Information Administration; and Whereas, The United Nations Environment Programme's 2019 Emissions Gap Report highlighted figures from industrial plans to produce nearly 50 percent more fossil fuels by 2030, widening the gap between fossil fuel production and climate safety protocols; and Whereas, In 2020, experts from around the world gathered for NYC Climate Week, the world's largest climate conference, to continue global discussions on the need for establishing a "fossil fuel nonproliferation treaty" framework that could compel governments to achieve the 2015 Paris Agreement by targeting the fossil fuel industry; and Whereas, Climate policymakers, legal scholars, and social movement professionals have launched the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, a campaign to prevent the proliferation of fossil fuels by getting nations around the globe to commit to phasing-out existing stockpiles of fossil fuels and fast-tracking a peaceful transition to safer energy alternatives; and Whereas, Drawing on the same rubric that has successfully led to the decreased production of nuclear weapons around the world, the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative aims to stop the exploration of fossil fuel projects and steadily manage the decline of existing production in line with what is necessary to attain the goals of the Paris Agreement; and Whereas, As advocates continue to challenge fossil fuel producers across the globe, a treaty can bring together these diverse efforts into a powerful plan that will protect our planet's population from the direct threats stemming from our existential climate crisis; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on nations around the world to implement, the United States Senate to approve, and the president to ratify a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty. LS #16269 10/19/2020 AH 1