Kuala Lumpur Declaration Calls for Rapid Equitable Fossil Fuel Phase-Out

Civil society organisations and climate experts from South and Southeast Asia adopted the Kuala Lumpur Declaration, urging an accelerated and equitable shift away from fossil fuels and demanding trillions in climate finance to support a just energy transition. The declaration calls for a formal fossil fuel phase-out treaty and stronger international support for adaptation and loss and damage.

A gathering of civil society groups and climate policy experts from across South and Southeast Asia adopted the Kuala Lumpur Declaration, which frames the transition away from coal, oil and gas as urgent and non-negotiable. The declaration warns that geopolitical conflicts and associated energy price shocks expose the vulnerability of fossil fuel dependence rather than justifying its continuation. Signatories from multiple Global South nations called for a clear international roadmap to phase out fossil fuels ahead of upcoming COP negotiations.

The declaration demands what it characterises as trillions of dollars in climate finance from developed nations to enable developing economies to accelerate their clean energy transitions without sacrificing economic development. It also calls for strengthened international mechanisms for adaptation finance and compensation for loss and damage already experienced by climate-vulnerable countries. These demands echo positions advanced by the G77 bloc at recent UNFCCC negotiations, reflecting broad alignment between civil society and government positions in the Global South.

The Kuala Lumpur Declaration is expected to feed into advocacy strategies ahead of COP31 and COP32, where fossil fuel phase-out language and climate finance commitments will be central negotiating issues. For India, which balances significant coal dependency with growing renewable ambition, the civil society call for a rapid fossil fuel phase-out adds domestic pressure alongside international climate obligations. The declaration also reaffirms support for a formal fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty, an initiative that has gained growing traction in climate diplomacy.

Key figure — Trillions of dollars in climate finance demanded to support Global South fossil fuel transition