We the undersigned write this letter out of great fear and great hope.
Over the last few months, we’ve seen the world set ablaze by both war and warming. From the conflict in Iran, which has claimed thousands of lives and disrupted billions more, to the series of ever worsening climate disasters, from wildfires in Europe to collapsing glaciers in Nepal, the world seems to be falling apart exactly when it needs to be coming together.
We know that these crises are connected. The oil that governments fight over is also the carbon pollution that is warming our climate. The bad air quality in Delhi, the high price of fuel in Vietnam, the cost of electricity in the United States, the terrifying floods in the Himalayas – they all connect back to fossil fuels.
Until we end that dependence, we’ll never be able to address the climate emergency and stop fighting these endless oil-soaked wars. That’s why today we are inviting the world to unite around a common cause: repowering the world with cheap, clean energy.
We are calling on governments, businesses, institutions and the public to work together to provide clean, affordable energy to everyone, everywhere by 2030.
From the nearly 1 billion people who still lack access to reliable electricity, to the billions more of us who pay too much for dirty fossil fuels.
We know this world is within reach.
Building clean energy is now the cheapest and fastest way to slash energy bills, reduce pollution, and provide electricity access to the places that need it most.
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With cheap solar, wind and batteries, we can create huge and rapid change.
California is already using just half as much natural gas to generate electricity as it did three years ago, thanks to solar and batteries. In Pakistan, people have put up millions of solar panels in just months, relying on social media for instruction. Each month, millions more people across sub-Saharan Africa are getting electricity for the first time with home solar kits.
This energy transition is already moving quickly – but we need it to go much quicker. And so we come together to urge two steps.
First, we must build clean power for everyone. For the first time ever, we can reliably bring electricity to the one in 10 people on earth living without regular access.
We ask everyone who can afford it to donate something so that others can turn the lights on for studying, cooking and medical care – and never have to think about a gallon of diesel or gas again. It takes just $15 to give access to clean electricity for one person for a generation.
Second, we need to build clean power everywhere, and to make that happen, we need to build a movement powerful and beautiful enough to force governments to take large-scale action.
Individual steps alone are not enough: too many of our leaders will resist action until we demonstrate together how much we want them to move. We must demand that governments stop building coal, oil and gas projects we no longer need, and start building the clean-energy systems that works – no pollution or wars required.
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One important day along this path will be 20 June, as the summer solstice approaches in the northern hemisphere, generating the most solar power of any day on earth yet. We will celebrate that day as Sun Day, coming together to celebrate and accelerate this great shift.
The path forward is difficult, but the way is clear. We want solar for everyone, everywhere, before the decade is out.
We know that standing up to the powerful can be scary. But if there is one thing that unites us, it is that we live beneath the same sun. That unity is our strength, and we must use it to act now.
Signed,
Muhammad Mustafa Amjad, director of programs, Renewables First
Alyssa Barber, content creator, @NewLifestyleABB
Lauren Bash, content creator and film-maker
Rachel Bender, disability rights advocate, @rachcutiepie
Tzeporah Berman, chair, Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative
Caitlin Blunnie, content creator, 2Liberal Jane
Jessica Craven, content creator, @jesscraven101
Nick Cutsumpas, founder, Farmer Nick
Summer Dean, founder, Climate Diva Media
Christiana Figueres, former UN climate secretary and founding partner, Global Optimism
Jane Fonda, actor, activist and founder, Jane Fonda Climate Pac
Nela Cadinanos Gonzalez
Saul Griffith, engineer and co-founder, Rewiring America
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Malynda Hale, actor, film-maker, creator
Fletcher Harper, executive director, Greenfaith
Alex Honnold, professional climber and founder, Honnold Foundation
Danny Kennedy, chair, Global Solar Council
Catherine McKenna, founder, Climate and Nature Solutions & Women Lead on Climate
Bill McKibben, author, climate activist and co-founder, Third Act
Kumi Naidoo, president, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative
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Ky Polanco, co-Founder, @Feminist
Sean Taylor Pugerude, creator and community Organizer, @heyseantaylor
Abbie Richards, researcher and educator, @abbiesr
Tom Rivett-Carnac, founding partner, Global Optimism
Bernie Sanders, US senator for Vermont
Yeb Saño, board chair, Laudato Si’ Movement
Jacob Simon, creator and educator – @jacobsimonsays
Laurence Tubiana, CEO, European Climate Foundation
