The Guardian view on a non-proliferation treaty: fossil fuels are weapons of mass destruction

Colombia's economy is dependent on fossil fuels, which account for about half of its exports. But at the UN climate summit this weekend, Gustavo Petro, the country's president, committed to stop the expansion of coal, oil and gas exploitation and reorient his nation away from such "poisons". Colombia is the first big economy to endorse a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty. This is a sensible, globally significant step - which raises the question of why other carbon-exporting OECD members, such as Britain, shouldn't follow suit. What is crazy is that governments plan to produce more than double the amount of fossil…