More than 160 concerned scientists are urging political party leaders to place the fight against the global climate crisis at the heart of their election campaigns. Among them are eighteen researchers from Delft. They are calling for an end to new gas drilling and fossil fuel subsidies.
So far, the ecological crisis has played a minor role in the elections, according to a petition drafted by Scientists for Future. “In this way, the greatest threat humanity faces will never receive the attention it truly deserves.”
Climate damage
In Europe alone, climate-related damage has amounted to €43 billion in recent years, the petition states. The cost of extreme weather events is expected to double across the continent over the next decade.
The scientists want political party leaders to announce, in the final week before the elections, that any coalition they join will not permit new fossil fuel infrastructure and will oppose new gas extraction in the North Sea or beneath the Wadden Sea.
Furthermore, they demand an end to the €40 to €46 billion in annual subsidies that benefit major polluters in the Netherlands. The petition quotes (in Dutch) leading Dutch economists who describe fossil fuel subsidies as ‘one of the most extreme inconsistencies in government policy ever’, with ‘globally extreme weather events as a consequence’. (HOP, HC / Delta, KB)
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