The EU is under pressure over fossil fuel subsidies – with a mass protest planned

More than 30 leading climate crisis and social justice groups under the United for Climate Justice (UCJ) coalition have issued an urgent open letter to EU leaders, calling for an end to fossil fuel subsidies by 2025.

Stop fossil fuel subsidies, NOW

The letter, addressed to the Presidents of the European Commission, Council, and Parliament, and candidate commissioners, comes as frustration mounts over the EU’s failure to make meaningful progress on its climate commitments.

It was organised by United for Climate Justice (UCJ). It is a platform of climate and social justice movements. It receives support and endorsement from non-governmental organisations within and outside of Europe.

Together, they are coordinating the Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies campaign grounded in scientific evidence of the climate crisis, with civil disobedience serving as their primary tactic. They advocate for rapid and systemic cultural, economic and political change, driven for and by the people themselves.

The open letter – co-signed by over 130 academics and prominent organisations including Oxfam, Greenpeace, ActionAid International, 350.org, Legambiente, and Laudato Si Movement – demands that EU leaders lay out a comprehensive and transparent roadmap to phase out fossil fuel subsidies in the European Union.

These subsidies, the letter highlights:

distort energy demand, perpetuate dependence on polluting energy sources, and undermine European energy security, while subsidising industries that contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.

They also directly contradict the EU’s own environmental targets and fuel the global climate crisis, disproportionately affecting vulnerable communities in both Europe and the Global South.

The EU: making little progress

Despite pledges under the 8th Environmental Action Programme (2022) to eliminate harmful subsidies, the EU has made little to no progress.

The signatories warn that without swift and decisive action, the EU will fall short of its climate goals for 2030 and 2050, with devastating consequences for ecosystems, economies, and human lives in Europe and abroad. The lack of progress puts the EU’s climate credibility into question.

Dr. Angela Huston Gold, spokesperson for the UCJ coalition, highlighted the urgency:

The EU cannot claim leadership on climate action while continuing to support polluting industries with billions. EU leaders must make a choice: stand with the people and the planet, or continue propping up an economy that’s driving us towards climate catastrophe.

The recent disastrous floods in Central and Eastern Europe are yet another wake up call. We must end our fossil fuel dependency and therefore eliminate all fossil fuel subsidies.

To make the demands of the open letter heard, UCJ will hold a pan-European protest in Brussels on 5 October, starting in Place du Luxembourg at 2pm and concluding with a People’s Assembly in Merode. The event will bring together activists from across Europe and the Global South to call for an end to fossil fuel subsidies and immediate action to stop the climate crisis.