The NEN – North Edinburgh News

A coalition of climate justice campaigners staged a musical demonstration and banner protest at the UK Government’s offices in Edinburgh yesterday to call on the Government and corporations to end fossil fuels and pay their fair share of the climate finance owed to countries most impacted by climate change.

The activists rewrote the lyrics to classic songs such as Abba’s ‘Money, Money, Money’ and the Proclaimers’ ‘500 miles’ to get their message across.

Abba chorus:
“Money money money // Nothing’s funny // In an unequal world.  
Money, money, money // It’s way too sunny // In a colonial world.”

Proclaimers’ chorus:
“But we would walk five hundred miles // And we would walk five hundred days // Just to be the ones who see 5 trillion smiles // Because WHO OWES MUST PAY.”

Campaigners from groups including Friends of the Earth Scotland, Extinction Rebellion Scotland, Global Justice Now Scotland, Divest Lothian, Stop EACOP Edinburgh and Edinburgh Quakers highlighted the role that UK fossil fuel companies, and the UK in general, have played in fuelling the climate crisis. 

The groups demand the UK Government end our reliance on fossil fuels in a way that is ‘fast, fair and forever’ and to stop climate-wrecking projects like the controversial Rosebank oil field off the coast of Shetland. 

Joy Reyes from Friends of the Earth Philippines spoke at the rally saying: “The people of the global south are not asking for pity or mercy, we are demanding our right to a future lived with dignity.

“We are demanding that the Global North and the fossil fuel companies, who profit while our people suffer, pay up. For every life lost, for every farm ruined, for every home destroyed and for every future ripped away from us, pay up!

“It is time for the perpetrators of this crisis to pay for what they have done.”

Sally Clark, Divestment Campaigner with Friends of the Earth Scotland said: “With catastrophic wildfires in Portugal and terrible flooding in Nigeria this week alone, it has never been more urgent for our governments to stop funding oil and gas companies like BP, Shell and TotalEnergies that are fuelling climate breakdown and harm to communities around the world. 

“As one of the first countries to profit from fossil fuels, the UK has a greater responsibility to pay our climate debt to countries which have done the least to cause the climate crisis but which are already suffering the most. 

“By ending our funding of climate-wrecking fossil fuels and instead investing in genuine climate solutions like social housing and wind and solar power, the Government can protect communities, create new green jobs and ensure a liveable planet for everyone.”

Campaigners are calling on governments in the Global North to urgently implement a fast, fair and funded phase out of fossil fuels and to commit to paying a minimum of US$5 trillion per year in public finance to countries in the Global South for the damage that has already been caused by the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis.  

In April, new research revealed that just 57 companies, including BP, Shell, ExxonMobil and TotalEnergies, are directly linked to 80% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since 2016.  

Among the campaigners’ demands is a call on the UK Government to support the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and to stop funding companies responsible for new fossil fuel projects such as the Rosebank oil field and the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in Uganda and Tanzania which is predicted to produce 379m tonnes of climate-heating pollution if it is completed. 

Cathy Allen from Stop EACOP Edinburgh said: “For as long as any of us can remember, the UK government has promoted the myth that they kindly donate generous aid to poor countries.

“This narrative could not be further from the truth.  The reality is that the UK government along with the rest of the Global North is defaulting on what it owes the Global South – collectively at least $5 trillion per year as compensation for the immense consequences of climate change. 

“Payment for our part in this catastrophe would inevitably involve significant taxation of the fossil fuel industry and would thus also act as a deterrent to that sector’s unfettered rampage on the planet, resulting in a rare win-win situation.”

The rally was one of many actions taking place across the UK and around the world for the ‘Pay Up for Climate Finance’ Day of Action which marks the culmination of the Global Week of Action for Climate Finance and a Fossil-Free Future. 

Tyrone Scott from War on Want said: “We’re taking action here in the UK and across the world because wealthy countries in the Global North, such as the UK, have long made big promises on tackling the climate crisis — but have so far failed to deliver the resources needed to honour them.

“Those who are facing the worst consequences of our reliance on fossil fuels have done the least to cause this crisis, yet face the worst effects. Against this backdrop, the UK refuses to pay up its fair share in climate finance and reparations to help countries adapt to and mitigate against a crisis they have not caused.”