As the world meets in Brazil for COP30, Global Justice Macclesfield welcomes Cheshire East's call on the UK Government to endorse an international treaty for a just and fair managed transition away from fossil fuels.

This followed the endorsement of the Fossil Fuel non-Proliferation Treaty by Cheshire East in June this year through a motion championed by councillor Sam Corcoran.

In September, councillor David Jefferay, Chair of Cheshire East's Environment and Communities Committee, wrote to the UK government and to the Local Government Association informing them of the council's decision and urging the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to press the government to make a similar commitment.

Councillor Jefferay wrote: "Although local authorities are not yet under a statutory duty to address climate change, we are all acutely aware of our broader responsibilities to protect the health, wellbeing, and future of our residents.

"These responsibilities compel us to act decisively to limit planetary warming and to mitigate the damage already inflicted on our environment."

Cheshire East is among the first of the counties in the UK to take this action.

Councillor Sam Corcoran added: "We have a fantastic opportunity to be at the forefront of new low-carbon technologies."

As Greg Jackson CEO of Octopus Energy says, 'renewables are….perhaps the greatest business opportunity of our generation''.

Fossil fuel extraction is at the root of global warming but despite overwhelming scientific evidence our leaders have failed to act with the urgency that is required.

COP30 marks a decade since the Paris Agreement to keep the global temperature rise to within 1.5°C of pre-industrial levels yet according to the Production Gap Report 2025 governments still plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels by 2030 than what would be consistent with this level.

In an interview today UN Secretary General António Guterres has said 'we are seeing a renewables revolution and the transition will inevitably accelerate and there will be no way in which humankind will be able to use all the oil and gas already discovered'.

The UK should use the opportunity of COP30 to endorse the treaty and work with other countries to produce a road map for a managed transition that will protect communities and workers.

Global Justice Macclesfield

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