Call to rally for the climate and for ending fossil fuels on car-free Sunday, 17 September at 2 p.m. in front of Brussels Central Station
Brussels, 13/09/2023. After the hottest months of June and July on record, following the climate disasters which occurred this summer, and before the UN Climate Ambition Summit in New York, mobilizations will take place around the world from 15 to 17 September responding to the call of Fridays For Future and hundreds of international organizations united under the banner of Global Fight to End Fossil Fuels.
The international press release: https://fightfossilfuels.net/press-release-actions
What UN Secretary General António Gutteres no longer calls global warming but global boiling is causing increasingly intense heat waves, wildfires, droughts, floods and storms, killing or severely affecting populations.
Yet the fossil fuel industry which is at the origin of this destruction continues to benefit from subsidies and reap obscene profits. Enough is enough! Governments must stop treating these companies with kid gloves, force them to pay the costs of their damage, and no longer allow investments in fossil fuels or in projects that increase their consumption.
In Brussels we call for actionon 17 September to challenge political, industrial and financial leaders in Belgium and at the European level. This day of action, which coincides with Car Free Sunday, will be an opportunity to remember that gasoline and diesel passenger cars are responsible for about 12 percent of the European Union's total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions , and that automobile traffic in cities is the main source of particle pollution which causes around 5,000 premature deaths per year in Belgium according to the European Environment Agency.
For the health of humans and the planet, it is urgent to wean ourselves from fossil fuels. Join the Global Fight on Sunday 17 September at the Brussels Central Station from 2:00 p.m.
https://facebook.com/events/s/for-climate-and-humanity-lets-/1465136434221313/
The rally is co-organized by Rise for Climate Belgium, La Zinne and House of Compassion. The program (detailed below) will be presented in three languages, with an introduction by climatologists including Jean-Pascal Van Ypersele, former vice-president of the IPCC, statements by several Belgian and European associations, artist performances, and a citizens’ assembly where everyone can share their ideas.
The six demands of the Global Fight:
1. No new fossil fuels: no new projects, finance, subsidies (1.4 trillion dollars by G20 countries in 2022!)
and no new approvals, licences, permits, or extensions
2. A rapid, just and equitable phase out from existing infrastructure in line with the 1.5 °C temperature
limit and a global plan such as the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
3. New commitments for international cooperation: massively increase financial and technology transfers
to ensure renewable energy access, economic diversification plans, and Just Transition processes so that
every country and community can phase out fossil fuels, especially those suffering the worst impacts of
the climate crisis
4. Stop Greenwashing and false solutions
5. Hold polluters responsible: make sure coal, oil, and gas corporations pay reparations for climate loss and damage and for local rehabilitation, remediation and transition
6. End fossil fuel corporate capture: stop corporations from writing the rules of climate action, bankrolling or participating in climate talks, and undermining the global response to climate change
Our demands at European level:
· Encourage the 27 Member States of the European Union to adopt the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty
· Support the Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe campaign which aims to phase out fossil gas by 2035
Our demands at Belgian level:
· Encourage citizens to pressure their elected officials to place the climate crisis at the top of the political agenda in view of the 2024 elections
· Support L’Affaire Climat – Klimaatzaak legal action to force Belgian governments to keep their international climate pledges
· Include the crime of ecocide in the reform of the federal penal code
The program of action from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Carrefour de l'Europe in front of the Central Station:
– Introduction by Rise For Climate in 3 languages : why we are demonstrating and presentation of the program
– Jean-Pascal van Ypersele: findings and challenges of the UN summit in New York (FR)
– Noël Baker, climatologist and artist (EN)
– Wim Thiery, VUB climatologist (NL)
– Esther Bollendorff, CAN Europe : statement from CAN International and the campaign for Europe's exit from fossil gas by 2035 (EN, FR)
– Getch, singer- songwriter: song “Combien de temps encore?” (FR)
– Bruno Coppens, comedian: song “Fioul sentimental” (FR)
– Baque Da Lua, Brazilian percussion group : “Ciranda”, collective dance
– Citizens' assembly with presentation of NGO campaigns and exchanges with the public (FR, NL, EN):
Europe and International:
Totalement Down: Stop EACOP campaign
Fossil Free Politics: the fossil fuel lobby and the appointment of Wopke Hoekstra as
European Commissioner for Climate
Espirito Mundo: the campaign against oil extraction in the Amazon
Rise for Climate Belgium: “Stop Fossil Fuels” action on October 26 during the European Council summit in Brussels (6 p.m. at the Schuman roundabout)
Belgium:
Greenpeace: support for the anti-fossil demonstrators arrested and summoned to court in Bruges
L’Affaire Climat - Klimaatzaak : legal appeal to require from the Belgian government a binding objective of greenhouse gas emissions reduction (-61% by 2030)
L’Observatoire de l’Anthropocène: climate mobilization for the 2024 Belgian and European elections
La Zinne: Brussels’ local currency for the climate
L’Hêtre : the commitment of artists
Stop Ecocide Belgium and Extinction Rebellion: recognition of the crime of ecocide committed by major polluters
– Closing remarks by the organizers of the action
Press contacts: riseforclimatebelgium@gmail.com , www.riseforclimatebelgium.eu
Kim Le Quang , Rise for Climate tel 0499 439 350 (FR, basic EN )
Larry Moffett , Rise for Climate tel 0495 534 340 (EN, FR)
Karen Naessens , House of Compassiontel 0498944377 (NL, FR,EN, ES)