Full Breakdown
Santa Marta Conference Launches First Global Dialogue on Phasing Out Fossil Fuels
4/27/2026, 2:26:28 AM
Event Overview
From 24-29 April 2026, delegates from 53 nations and the European Union gathered in Santa Marta, Colombia, for the inaugural Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels. Co-hosted by Colombian President Gustavo Petro and the Netherlands, the meeting is framed as a coalition of the willing to develop practical pathways for moving beyond coal, oil and gas. Private-sector participants may attend only if they align with the conference’s objectives.
Background & Context
The 2015 Paris Agreement omitted fossil-fuel references, enabling producers to block phase-out language. Fossil-fuel wording first appeared at COP28 (2023) but was later removed at COP29 and COP30, prompting the Belém Declaration and this minilateral conference.
Key Themes & Data
Organisers set three pillars. Pillar 1 tackles economic dependence, noting that many Global-South states—e.g., Colombia—depend on fossil-fuel revenues for social programs and face high debt. Pillar 2 focuses on supply-demand, debating production phase-outs, subsidy reforms, renewable scaling and petrochemical demand. Pillar 3 targets international cooperation, especially ending investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS); over 220 experts, including Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz, urged a coalition free of ISDS, prompting Colombia’s withdrawal. The meeting gathers 53 countries and the EU, records fossil-fuel CO2 at 38.1 billion tons in 2025 (up 1.1 %), and notes annual subsidies of $920 billion. Renewables supplied over one-third of world electricity in 2025.
Official Statements & Responses
President Gustavo Petro announced Colombia’s ISDS withdrawal and positioned the summit as complementary to UN talks. The Dutch climate ministry pledged concrete implementation, notably subsidy cuts. EU commissioner Wopke Hoekstra described the event as a coalition of the willing.
Criticism & Opposition
Key fossil-fuel producers—China, the United States, India, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Venezuela—are absent, limiting global representativeness. Observers note Colombia’s domestic political shift could reverse anti-fossil policies, and the non-binding report offers no enforceable commitments.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
Participants view the summit as a necessary step, yet officials caution it cannot deliver binding outcomes or a unified subsidy-phase-out timeline.
What's Next
The final report will be released after 29 April and fed into Brazil’s COP31 road-map, while Colombia’s May election may reshape its energy policy.
Verbatim Quotes
- "Countries are going into Santa Marta with the energy crisis at the top of most of their minds." — Natalie Jones, senior policy advisor, International Institute for Sustainable Development
- "We need to shift now from the overarching objective of transitioning away from fossil fuels to actually how we go about it." — David Waskow, World Resources Institute
- "It is implementation time, no more discussions on ambitions." — spokesperson for Stientje van Veldhoven-van der Meer, Dutch minister of climate and green growth
- "The mere fact that the conference is happening is already a success." — Claudio Angelo, senior policy adviser, Brazil’s Climate Observatory
