Principles of a Fossil Fuel Treaty

The document outlines various structural options for integrating principles into a Fossil Fuel Treaty, such as through dedicated provisions or preambles. It details 16 potential international law principles—including common but differentiated responsibilities, precaution, and just transition—explaining their legal nature, precedents in other treaties, and how they could be applied to regulate the phase-out of fossil fuel production.

• Negotiators have two primary structural options for incorporating principles: a dedicated treaty provision, which enhances normative weight and provides a guiding framework for interpretation, or mentioning principles only in the preamble and substantive provisions, which is generally less authoritative.
• The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC) could be used to mandate that wealthier, developed states lead in reducing fossil fuel production, while allowing developing countries a more gradual phase-down and phase-out.
• A precautionary approach could justify a generic commitment to reject new fossil fuel projects incompatible with Paris Agreement goals, as developed oil, gas, and coal reserves contain at least 1,542 gigatonnes of CO2 that could exceed the global carbon budget.
• The principle of maximum disclosure and transparency is essential for monitoring whether states meet their phase-out targets. Relevant data for disclosure includes annual production figures, future production plans, details on oil, gas, and coal infrastructure, and government production subsidies.
• The just transition principle, while currently emerging in legal status and often appearing in preambles, is critical for managing the social impacts on workers as fossil fuel industries and infrastructures are phased out.
• Intergenerational equity provides a rationale for limiting current fossil fuel production to prevent pushing economic and environmental costs onto future generations and to protect their right to a stable climate.
• The principles of non-regression and progressive realisation could prevent states from rolling back existing domestic phase-out commitments and require a continuous, step-by-step increase in ambition over time.
• The polluter-pays principle (PPP) could be used to reinforce efforts to end public finance for fossil fuels by internalising the costs of pollution and damage.
• The principle of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) is proposed to ensure Indigenous peoples' rights are respected, specifically to prevent the extension of production frontiers into Indigenous territories.

APA

Otto, R., Derler, F., van Asselt, H., Newell, P., & Daley, F. (n.d.). Principles of a Fossil Fuel Treaty. Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. https://www.fossilfueltreaty.org/s/Principles-Brief.pdf

Chicago

Otto, Renatus, Franz Derler, Harro van Asselt, Peter Newell, and Freddie Daley. Principles of a Fossil Fuel Treaty. Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, n.d. https://www.fossilfueltreaty.org/s/Principles-Brief.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Otto |first1=Renatus |last2=Derler |first2=Franz |last3=van Asselt |first3=Harro |last4=Newell |first4=Peter |last5=Daley |first5=Freddie |title=Principles of a Fossil Fuel Treaty |publisher=Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative |url=https://www.fossilfueltreaty.org/s/Principles-Brief.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ottondprinciples, author = {Otto, Renatus and Derler, Franz and van Asselt, Harro and Newell, Peter and Daley, Freddie}, title = {{Principles of a Fossil Fuel Treaty}}, institution = {Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative}, url = {https://www.fossilfueltreaty.org/s/Principles-Brief.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }