I was among politicians and national leaders from across the Pacific who gathered for the first time in three years to emphasise the importance of fighting the climate crisis and the necessity of declaring a climate emergency. The need to eliminate fossil fuels has become even more critical to our continued existence and at the Pacific Islands Forum we set a strong set of collective priorities as we move closer to the next United Nations climate summit to be held in Egypt,

But the case is increasingly urgent for a mechanism to address the supply side of the problem, in the form of a global fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty.

When the world adopted the Paris Agreement in December 2015, it was a huge step in spurring climate action after decades of idling. The world finally had a singular agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions in pursuit of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees and to keeping it “well below” 2 degrees above pre-industrial times.

Yet governments are planning to produce more than double the amount of fossil fuels consistent with a 1.5-degree trajectory by 2030, and 10 per cent more than their own climate pledges.

In just the past decade, 86 per cent of CO2 emissions have been caused by oil, gas and coal, according to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

What we’re seeing is that fossil fuel supply is now driving demand, so without tackling the supply-side of the equation it will be impossible to meet our Paris goals. We’re seeing a need to first break our dependence on fossil-fuel production through a phase-out and economic diversification measures.

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Currently, our focus on limiting merely fossil fuel emissions – and not fossil fuel production –has allowed countries and companies to claim climate leadership even as they support new coal, oil and gas projects, directly or indirectly. In the months since the last COP climate summit, we’ve seen the British give the green light to several fossil fuel projects, the US hold its largest oil and gas sale in history and Canada approve a $12 billion offshore oil plan.

Just last week, Pacific leaders welcomed and fully supported Australia’s renewed commitment to the forum’s climate change priorities. However, the new Australian government must do more to align itself with the rest of the Pacific family, and we are confident it realises this. Movement must be made away from the expansion of coal and gas production if we are to remain in alignment with Paris commitments, regional efforts and our stated goal of overcoming the single greatest existential threat to our region’s security and prosperity.