Over 200 artists worldwide join the call for Fossil Fuel Treaty – EnviroNews

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More than 200 artists, musicians, actors, filmmakers, photographers and performers from across the world have added their names to an open letter calling on world leaders to support a Fossil Fuel Treaty, an initiative for a global just transition away from fossil fuels.

The artistic and cultural sector is now formally joining the international movement for a Fossil Fuel Treaty, a proposal that already brings together 18 countries, thousands of scientists, faith leaders, health professionals and parliamentarians, hundreds of cities, Indigenous communities, trade unions, Nobel Laureates, and more than one million individuals worldwide.

Signatories include globally acclaimed names such as Brian Eno, Jane Fonda, Susan Sarandon, Jameela Jamil and Robert Smith, alongside artists recognised in their own regions and countries, from Mundano in Brazil, La Linterna in Colombia, to Misan Harriman in the UK, and many more. They add their voices to long-time supporters including Emma Watson, Mark Ruffalo, Massive Attack and Coldplay x This Is Our Home, sending an unmistakable message: the cultural world is demanding an end to fossil fuels.

In their letter, the signatories sustain: “Oil, gas and coal are not just energy sources. When extracted from the ground, where they belong, they become weapons of mass destruction, destabilising our climate, endangering our lives, and silencing entire cultures. They are suffocating the very world that inspires our art. […] We are artists, musicians, actors, performers, poets, filmmakers, dancers, writers and creators. We are storytellers and dreamers. We are messengers of emotion and amplifiers of hope. And we are adding our voices — loud, clear, unrelenting — to the global call for a Fossil Fuel Treaty.”

This growing wave of artist support arrives at a decisive moment. In April 2026, Colombia and the Netherlands delivered a historic breakthrough in Santa Marta: the First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels broke decades of diplomatic deadlock by launching a new multilateral process dedicated to phasing out coal, oil and gas, and its final outcome report shows strongest global support to date for a Fossil Fuel Treaty. In 2027, Tuvalu and Ireland will co-host the Second Conference in the Pacific — home to communities and nations facing literal erasure from rising seas — where discussions are expected to move from dialogue to concrete commitments, including the development of a Fossil Fuel Treaty.

Jane Fonda, actress, declared: “We are living through a time of fires, floods and bombs where our children’s future is being stolen by the fossil fuel industry that values profit over life. But history tells us that when people stand up together and speak out, change happens. Artists have always been the heartbeat of every great movement, using our visibility to shine a light on dangers and injustices. That’s why I’m calling on every creator to sign this letter and demand a Fossil Fuel Treaty. We cannot wait one more second to save our planet and save ourselves.”

Brian Eno, legendary producer, musician and songwriter, said: “Artists are people who imagine other worlds and offer us the chance to explore our feelings about them. With multiple crises unfolding across our world, that kind of imagination has a vital role to play. I encourage artists everywhere to sign this letter and support the call for a Fossil Fuel Treaty so we can help shape a more peaceful and sustainable future.”

Kumi Naidoo, President of the Fossil Fuel Treaty initiative, said: “A movement only becomes a movement of substance, size, and power when the artists say: We want to add our voice.’ In every struggle for justice I have been part of, artists have given us the songs to march to, the images to remember, the stories to reflect on, and the futures to build. Artists are not just witnesses to the climate crisis, they help us face it, because they remind us that this fight is not only about what we must end, but about what we are fighting to protect: our capacity for celebration, for hope, and for love. The growing support of hundreds of artists calling for a Fossil Fuel Treaty brings cultural weight to a diplomatic process that now needs the world behind it.”

Misan Harriman, photographer and activist, said: “Photography, like protest, is about bearing witness. For years, I’ve pointed my camera at the front lines of injustice, and the climate crisis is no different. Fossil fuels are not an abstract policy issue, they are the root cause behind so much of the suffering I have captured: displacement, conflict, communities torn apart. I cannot look away, and I’m asking other artists not to look away either by signing this letter calling for a Fossil Fuel Treaty.”

Alysia Reiner, actress, said: “As an actress and creator I love telling stories that open hearts, educate and illuminate, through loving action vs fear. Phasing out Fossil Fuels is such a story it is a path forward for our planet. It is how we can work together in unity and compassion for ourselves, all species, planet earth.”

Mundano, visual artist, Brazil, said: “My art is painted with the very evidence of our collapse. When I use spilled crude oil or ashes from our forests, I am documenting an environmental crime scene. Phasing out fossil fuels is a matter of immediate survival. Until we stop extracting this poison, I will keep using its residues to expose the truth.”

Read the full letter and access signatories here: https://www.fossilfueltreaty.org/artist-letter