Written by Jessica Kleczka
2022 was a big year. From a historic agreement on loss and damage at COP27, escalating climate warnings by the IPCC, the United States approving the single biggest investment in climate action in history, to countless of energetic grassroots campaigns around the world - 2022 was the year world leaders, businesses and society woke up to the fact that there is no future in fossil fuels, and the need for a just transition towards clean energy.
The winter holidays are a time for rest, regeneration, and reflection. While the climate crisis poses an ever-present and escalating threat, many good things have happened too. They’re living proof that campaigning and taking action works, and that our efforts are bearing fruit. We’ve collected our favourite wins against the fossil fuel industry from the last year - from inspiring campaigns, to ambitious new policies and community-led fights against big polluters.
In September, Ecuador’s indigenous movement and the government of Ecuador agreed to a temporary moratorium on all new oil and mining, putting the country’s plans to double oil production and boost mining investment into question.
The talks and subsequent deal were the result of an 18-day strike by Indigenous peoples over the rising cost of living, the environment, and the impacts of oil and mining on their rights in the Amazon and Andes mountains. The moratorium will remain in place for at least 12 months or until there is a law guaranteeing the right to free, prior and informed consultation for Indigenous peoples before projects are approved in their territories.
In September, Shell was banned from searching for fossil fuels along South Africa’s Wild Coast, a massive victory for campaigners. Last year, Shell announced that it would start exploring for oil and gas reserves off the nation’s eastern coast, with the government granting the company exploration rights in 2017 and renewing them in 2021 - which would allow Shell to conduct underwater explosions to locate deep-sea oil and gas reserves.
Shell’s plans for seismic blasting would have involved firing high-volume airguns at the seabed to map the seafloor, a practice that leads to extreme damage to marine life. The Wild Coast is home to an abundance of species, including humpback whales and dolphins. In addition to increasing emissions, the practice also carries the risk of oil spills.
Shell’s plans were met with fierce opposition from local communities, and activists from the Sustaining the Wild Coast coalition took the oil giant to court. South Africa’s Eastern Cape high court eventually revoked Shell’s exploration rights, ruling that they were granted illegally as environmental consequences hadn’t been taken into account sufficiently.
Following campaign pressure from the #StoppWisting coalition, Norwegian oil giant Equinor announced in November that it would postpone an investment decision on the Wisting oil field in Norway until at least 2026, citing economic concerns.
Wisting could have become the largest single Norwegian oil asset approved by the government this decade, as well as the world’s northernmost oil field. Its climate impact could have been three times greater than that of the paused Cambo oil field proposed in the UK.
Equinor had been under intense scrutiny due to lacking environmental impact assessments, with the Norwegian Environmental Authorities deeming it inadequate. Norway has also postponed its upcoming oil and gas licensing round, which was part of the minority government’s budget deal with the opposition Socialist Left Party.
In a historic win, Colombia elected its first left-wing president in June, setting the country on a path to wind down fossil fuel production - the largest fossil fuel producer to do so. Gustavo Petro was voted in alongside environmental campaigner Francia Marquez, Colombia’s first black and second female vice-president. Campaigners hope that the new government will end Colombia’s status as the world’s most dangerous place for environmental campaigners - with 65 land defenders murdered in 2020 alone.
The world breathed a sigh of relief when Lula Da Silva beat climate-sceptic Bolsonaro in Brazil’s presidential elections, vowing to end Amazon deforestation. The new government is considering cancelling a network of gas power plants and pipelines planned by Bolsonaro, a project that has been criticised for environmental and economic reasons. Bolsonaro had been widely condemned by the international community for changing the law to permit further destruction of the Amazon, one of the world’s most important carbon sinks.
Earlier in the year, Australian voters kicked out the pro-coal Coalition government in favour of candidates that support stronger action on climate change. The Labor party with their leader Anthony Albanese promised to do more to tackle climate change, after the country was devastated by wildfires and floods in the previous two years. Since then, Australia has ramped up climate action and plans for the country to run on 100% renewable energy by 2030.
Despite its promises to ban new oil and gas leases, the Biden administration is still intent to support oil drilling in Alaska’s northern slope amid rising energy costs. The Gwich’in people of northern Alaska were disappointed when the Democratic-held US congress did not include a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest climate investment in history, to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge - the largest wildlife reserve in America which the Trump administration had opened to future drilling in 2017.
The community, led by the Indigenous Gwich’in committee and environmental groups, took matters into their own hands and fiercely opposed the presence of oil companies in the area - putting pressure on banks and insurance companies, and taking to the streets.
The first oil and gas company, Regenerate Alaska, gave up its lease in June. In September, Knik Arm Services became the second company to cancel its oil and gas lease for a tract of land in the wildlife reserve. If their leases had been developed, they would have likely included seismic testing and expansive road infrastructure, damaging tundra and disrupting wildlife like caribou, polar bears and birds.
2022 has seen an employment boom in electric vehicle production, building insulation and renewable power sectors, according to a report by the International Energy Agency. Clean energy now produces more employment than the fossil fuel industry, driven by efforts to tackle climate change.
However, wages and unionisation in the clean energy sector still lag behind those in the fossil fuel industry, and companies have been urged to ensure that clean energy projects ensure high quality employment and attract a diverse workforce. Where possible, fossil fuel workers should be given the option to retrain for clean energy jobs, ensuring a just transition. The IEA predicted that 14 million new clean energy jobs could be created by 2030, with an additional 16 million workers switching to new roles related to clean energy.
In September, Tiwi Islanders won a landmark court case against drilling for gas by Santos in their traditional waters, after complaining that the company failed to consult them about the impact of the project. The judge gave Santos two weeks to shut down and remove its rig from the sea north of Melville Island, arguing that the offshore oil and gas regulator failed to assess whether the company had consulted with everyone affected by the proposed drilling - which is required by law.
The case was brought by a senior lawyer of the Munipi clan, the traditional owners of the northern Tiwi Islands. The ruling sets new standards about the depth of consultation required by companies, making new fields in the territory vulnerable to legal challenges.
The Galilee coal mine, owned by billionaire Clive Palmer’s company, was ruled to infringe upon the rights of future generations, a Queensland court ruled in a landmark case in November. Climate change was a key issue in the hearing, as the mine would make a significant dent in Australia’s remaining carbon budget. The court found that the mine would undermine both the human rights of First Nations Queenslanders as well as the owners of a private nature reserve, whose ecological value would be seriously damaged by the mine.
The case was brought by Youth Verdict, a group of young people led by its First Nations members. The group said in a statement that the decision meant human rights and First Nations cultural rights would now have to be considered in the approval process for new coal mines in Queensland. The final decision on the mine approval now rests with the state government.
LA City Council unanimously voted to officially ban oil and gas drilling this month, in a historic victory for local communities. Los Angeles is home to the country’s most extensive network of urban oil drilling infrastructure, which is disproportionately concentrated near low-income communities and communities of colour. As a result, these demographics suffer disproportionately from respiratory disease, cancer and other health problems as a result of exposure to pollutants.
Stand Together Against Neighbourhood Drilling, a coalition of community groups and public health organisations, had spent years lobbying the city for an end to oil drilling, and the decision has been largely attributed to their campaigning efforts. The group now calls for an overhaul to racist land-use and planning systems, so that they benefit all communities equally.
In an unprecedented move, 100 UK universities pledged in October to divest from fossil fuels. The move affects 65% of institutions and means that funds worth almost £18 billion are out of reach for fossil fuel firms. The biggest investment portfolios which have at least partially divested include the University of Edinburgh, as well as the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
The move is a result of years of lobbying by the student-led Fossil Free campaign, who argue that it is not acceptable for education and research institutions to invest in companies responsible for global heating. Students have used a range of campaign strategies, from petitions, lobbying university management, political education and non-violent direct action, including occupying university buildings.
In a separate win, the People and Planet campaign got a number of universities to ban fossil fuel companies from recruiting on campus - including Birkbeck University in London, University of Bedfordshire and University of the Arts London.
Let’s be real, there is still a lot of work to be done. According to the latest Production Gap report, governments are planning more than double the amount of fossil fuels that would be consistent with the safe global heating threshold of 1.5 degrees. The UK has approved its first coal mine in over thirty years. World leaders are still funnelling money into destructive projects despite their grand climate promises.
While 2022 has seen incredible progress, 2023 must be a year of accountability, meaningful action and sustained grassroots pressure. Most of this year’s wins were achieved by communities on the ground, activist groups and youth campaigners. Let’s not forget that transformative change rarely happens at fancy conferences or behind the closed doors of government buildings. It happens on the streets, in the courtrooms and in our communities, led by people like you and me.
2022 was a year of progress. Let’s make 2023 the year of the fossil-free revolution.
