UNESCO: Protect culture, not coal

Details

Published on Saturday, 24 June 2017 10:15

Written by editor

Dear friends,

Coal kills and coal speeds up climate change — that is clear to everyone. What may not be well known is that in many parts of the world, UNESCO World Heritage sites are also at risk, thanks to coal.

New coal power plants proposed in Australia, Bangladesh, Kenya and Turkey pose an enormous threat to some of the world’s greatest natural and cultural places. This is devastating. Precious sites such as the Great Barrier Reef, the Lamu Islands and the Sundarbans forest should be under strict protection.

Fortunately, UNESCO has a unique power to call out governments who fail to protect key places on this planet, but we must show that people all over the world are standing together in this global call. Call on... UNESCO to step up and protect world heritage sites from the threat of coal.

In Australia, up to 50% of the Great Barrier Reef may be already dead -- this catastrophe has the coal industry’s footprints all over it. But like the Canadian government’s unrelenting support for the tar sands, the Australian government continues to side with the coal industry. In fact, Australia is expected to green light more coal projects that could kill off what’s left of the Great Barrier Reef.

194 countries, including all mentioned above, have signed the Paris Climate Agreement. To meet the goals of the agreement, new fossil fuel projects are simply not feasible. We can start with phasing out the dirtiest industry of all: coal. Sign the petition and tell UNESCO to take the lead by protecting communities, culture and the climate — not coal.

Let’s combine our voices. On Monday, our friends in Europe will deliver your signature along with hundreds of thousands of others, to the director of the World Heritage Center of UNESCO.

Last year, after thousands of people from across the globe spoke up together for the protection of the Sundarbans forest in Bangladesh from the Rampal Coal Plant, the World Heritage Centre took a stance against the proposed project. Let’s stand together again to motivate UNESCO to be even more ambitious by taking a stance against all fossil fuel projects that threaten our planet's most precious places.

With Hope,

Atiya

350.org is building a global climate movement. You can connect with us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and r38