Posted on 08 December 2023
On December 4 in Dubai at COP28, President Fiame Naomi Mata’afa announced Samoa would be the 11th nation state pushing to secure a negotiating mandate for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The call for a Fossil Fuels Non-Proliferation Treaty was first adopted in March by six Pacific islands - Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Tonga, Fiji, Niue, and the Solomon Islands. The treaty acts as a formal mechanism to fairly and equitably transition away from coal, gas and oil for a fossil free future.
Alex Rafalowicz, Executive Director of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, said on Monday that "Samoa is a part of a growing wave of momentum for this innovative solution to the world’s most pressing crisis – the climate crisis which is a fossil fuel crisis."