These are the countries that joined the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance

A new diplomatic alliance to phase out global oil and gas production was formally launched at the UN climate change conference in Glasgow on Thursday, marking an emerging international front in the fight against climate change.

The Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance, which Quebec announced it would join last week, is led by Costa Rica and Denmark, and now also includes France, Greenland, Ireland, Sweden, Wales and Quebec as “core” members, California , Portugal, and New Zealand as “associate” members, and Italy that joined as “friend” of the alliance.

Primary membership means that the country, or province, in the case of Quebec, has committed to ending the new exploration permits. Associate members must demonstrate efforts towards the elimination of oil and gas, such as ending fossil fuel subsidies. The alliance expects to add new members in the coming months, including Scotland, according to news reports, which could change the UK’s oil extraction plans, given much of your reserves they are in the North Sea.

“There is no future for oil and gas in a 1.5 degree world,” Danish Climate Minister Dan Jørgensen said at the launch.

While none of the signatories is a global oil and gas heavyweight like Canada, Saudi Arabia or Russia, advocates say it is significant that the signatories are committing to putting untapped fossil fuel reserves in the ground. Notes a growing awareness that limiting fossil fuel production is essential to keeping global warming at safer levels, while acknowledging the International Energy Agency’s net zero report and the latest energy forecast showing demand for Oil is declining in all the scenarios considered.

In an interview, National Policy Manager for the Canada Climate Action Network, Caroline Brouillette, called it significant that countries talk honestly about what is required to limit global warming to 1.5 C. Paris Agreement is to keep global warming to no more than 2 C and as close to 1.5 C as possible. In Glasgow, there is more emphasis on targeting 1.5 C, due to a growing recognition of the severe damage caused by every tenth of increase degree.

“We are at 1.1 degrees right now and we are already seeing really destructive impacts of climate change, and that has definitely reiterated how 1.5 is really a critical threshold,” Brouillette said.

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“What we hope is that Quebec is this first domino,” he said, referring to other jurisdictions in North America that could join.

At the start of the climate summit called COP26, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated a campaign promise to limit emissions from the oil and gas sector and reduce those emissions over time to help meet targets. In an interview with National Observation of CanadaEarlier this week, Environment and Climate Change Minister Steven Guilbeault explained the cap strategy as an opportunity to curb production.

“The federal government does not control the production of natural resources, the constitution is very clear on that,” he said. “We can intervene in pollution, but not in production.”

Guilbeault said a recent Supreme Court case upholding the federal government’s jurisdiction over emissions provides legal grounds for imposing an emissions cap.

“We have to put measures in place in Canada that will be upheld when challenged in court because we know from past experience that they will be challenged,” he said.

Brouillette said that while it is true that the provinces have jurisdiction over the production of natural resources, Ottawa’s options are not as limited as some might think. He pointed to jurisdiction over interprovincial transportation “targeting pipelines,” as well as the federal impact assessment law that was used earlier this year to drive a nail into the coffin of thermal coal.

Oil Change International’s global policy campaign manager Romain Ioualalen called the launch of the alliance a “turning point” in the climate negotiations and called on countries to take additional action.

“If this alliance can convince more countries and regions to join, isolate the laggards and push its members towards greater ambition, then it will be a success.

“The creation of this alliance shames the claims of climate leadership among countries like the UK, Norway, the US and Canada, all of which have yet to answer this simple question: Where is your plan to stop producing fossil fuels? who are driving the climate crisis? “