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Leave it in the Ground Initiative (LINGO)

Freistellungsbescheid_Tax excempt 2023 LINGO (processed).pdf

LINGO e.V. Statute, English Translation (2).pdf

LINGO e.V.

Francesco Loyola

Alice McGown

Paul Boëffard

Kjell Kühne

Joseph Kenson Sakala

LINGO works on high impact strategies, focussing on framings and research to accelerate the end of the fossil fuel age. We work on overlooked areas with potential to create great change in a short timespan.

We established a set of goals and deliverables with current funding, which are far less ambitious than what we hope to achieve with this grant application. Our planned completion date without the funds from this application is the 01-09-2025.

“Carbon bombs” are fossil fuel extraction projects that could each emit more than 1 gigatonne of CO2 over their lifetime. LINGO and partners have identified 425 such projects globally, which alone would tip us over the 1.5°C and 2°C thresholds. Stopping them is therefore of the highest importance to prevent climate breakdown.
In 2024/5 LINGO worked on mapping involvement of UK institutions in overseas carbon bombs and sharing the results of our work with local partners. These activities produced a front page story in The Guardian and mobilised civil society across the country, moving the dial on efforts to shut down carbon bomb projects. With this precedent under our belt we plan to replicate our work in Germany, leveraging the strong local movement working on fossil fuel divestments. Prior analysis by LINGO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine showed Germany to be in the top 10 countries investing in Russian carbon bombs, supporting 28 projects with over €6 billion. These numbers suggest a wider investigation will reveal a much larger involvement globally.

Previous Work
Ever since LINGO director Kjell Kühne authored and published the carbon bombs study in 2022, LINGO has been leading on spreading the framing within civil society and media worldwide. Through our research and advocacy, we helped increase scrutiny against these projects and the polluters that support them. For example, as a result of the carbonbombs.org website which we helped develop, a parliamentary commission of inquiry was launched in France against TotalEnergies. 
In 2024 we obtained the resources to focus in-depth on one country, the UK. We mapped UK involvement in carbon bombs and provided consultations to over 20 local groups, resulting in 8 protests (including London’s largest climate protest of 2024) and 3 campaigns against polluters demanding they stop supporting carbon bombs. Encouraged by these outcomes, we have now opened a German-focused branch of the project, having just started to map the first actors: banks and fossil fuel companies. 


Carbon bombs are incompatible with a 1.5C, and even a 2C warming scenario. While relatively few in number, in 2019 operating carbon bombs accounted for 45% of all oil & gas extraction, and 25% of coal. Working to “defuse” carbon bombs systemically is therefore a high-impact strategy for maintaining a stable climate and greatly accelerating the fossil fuel phase out. In order to tackle carbon bombs systemically, we identify a 3 step process:

Phase 1: Analyse, identify vulnerabilities.
Phase 2: Communicate information.
Phase 3: Defuse.


This project focuses on phases 1 and 2, opening the way for phase 3, and our goals are as follows:

1. Map German supporters of carbon bomb projects globally.
2. Communicate German carbon bomb involvement to civil society and the media.
3. Spark actions by the German climate movement to pressure institutions to drop support for carbon bombs.

Verenigd Koninkrijk

Duitsland

Funding Partners:

Patagonia
Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust
Gower Street

Success of this project will mean that the German climate movement picks up the carbon bombs framing and uses it in new campaigns. We will see new actors engage with the largest fossil fuel projects Germany is involved in, and contribute to their “defusing”. This project aims to activate larger actors than ourselves, thus creating a multiplier effect to increase efforts to defuse carbon bombs.

The success of this project could be defined as follows. Within the funding period:
- German bank, other major institutional investors, and fossil fuel company involvement in Carbon Bombs mapped (partially covered through co-funding).
- At least 1 national-level media article on German involvement in carbon bombs (to be realised through the funding request).
- At least 2 German based CSOs publicly calling out German involvement in carbon bombs (covered through co-funding).
- At least 1 action against German involvement in carbon bombs (to be realised through the funding request).
- Carbon bombs become a salient issue in the German climate movement (to be realised through the funding request).
- At least 1 connection between carbon bomb opposition campaigns in German and UK actors made, initiating the first international cooperation on carbon bomb defusing (covered through co-funding).

Milieu natuur en dierenbescherming

“Carbon bombs” are fossil fuel extraction projects that could each emit more than 1 Gt of CO2. We will research German institutions supporting carbon bombs, and activate German civil society to take action to challenge and end this support.

This start date represents when we will commission the first pieces of research for the project. This was shortly after we were awarded a grant by one of our co-funders, Patagonia, which allowed us to start our activities. 

Klimaatactie

Alle doelgroepen

Towards Defusing Carbon Bombs supported by Germany

Maatschappelijke en sociale doelen

Betaalbare en duurzame energie

Duurzame steden en gemeenschappen

LINGO and partners have identified 425 carbon bombs globally, which alone would tip us over the 1.5°C and 2°C thresholds. Stopping them is therefore of the highest importance to prevent climate breakdown, protecting both people and planet.

While there is no exclusive demographic which the project engages, we act on behalf of all demographics, which we consider indirect beneficiaries of our project. 