First Steps Toward Phasing Out Fossil Fuels
After days of talks in the first-ever gathering devoted to ditching the fossil fuels that are heating the planet, ministers, climate advocates and financial experts from more than 50 countries have agreed on a set of outcomes.
Ministers, climate advocates and financial experts from more than 50 countries met in Santa Marta, Colombia, for the first conference devoted specifically to winding down fossil fuels. Hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands, the gathering produced a set of outcomes and next actions intended to build cooperation among countries pursuing a clean-energy future and to push forward discussion on a politically sensitive topic.
Delegates described the meeting as an important start. Tuvalu's minister for home affairs, climate change and environment, Maina Vakafua Talia, said participants were 'making history' and called for multilateral approaches that close governance gaps. Attendees welcomed the less formal, collaborative tone compared with large UN climate summits: former Irish president Mary Robinson said the talks felt more open than typical COP negotiations, where positions are often fixed.
Delegates stressed the practical, context-specific nature of replacing coal, oil and gas with electrification and rapid renewable deployment. Exporting countries face different challenges from importers. Colombia, for instance, depends on coal exports; a fast phase-down would require new sources of revenue and jobs, careful handling of contracts and litigation risks, and broad social planning. Germany’s Coal Commission — which brought stakeholders together to design a socially oriented exit plan — was offered as an example; Germany aims to end coal-fired power by 2038.
The Santa Marta event was framed as a 'coalition of the willing' after a roadmap proposal at COP30 failed to secure consensus. Many participants said the smaller, more candid setting enabled a wider exchange of ideas than is possible at larger UN meetings.
Financing dominated the discussions. France used the forum to set out its timetable: reduce fossil fuels to 40% of final energy use by 2030 and to 30% by 2035, phase out coal by 2027, oil by 2045 and fossil gas by 2050. NGOs praised the clarity but argued those targets are insufficient given the accelerating climate emergency. Delegates also noted that developing countries face high borrowing costs and limited access to capital, which complicates their ability to transition.
Speakers underscored the scale of current support for fossil fuels — roughly $920 billion in subsidies globally. Dutch Minister for Climate and Green Growth Stientje van Veldhoven said that affordable financing and cutting subsidies are critical to enabling a global shift away from fossil fuels.
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro argued that the prevailing economic model fuels fossil-fuel consumption and links conflicts to energy dependence. EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra highlighted the financial risks of continued reliance on imports, noting Europe’s fossil-fuel import bill rose by more than EUR 22 billion in about two months without adding energy capacity. He urged any roadmap to build on UN goals to triple renewable capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030, halt new extraction and exploration, and decarbonize transport, aviation and shipping.
Germany attended with climate diplomat Jochen Flasbarth, even as domestic politics remain split between accelerating renewables and measures that could prolong fossil fuel use.
Participants acknowledged that a comprehensive roadmap or treaty will take time. Cristian Retamal, an associate researcher at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, called the talks constructive but said the coalition’s true influence will be visible only over months and years. Delegates agreed there would be no binding roadmap this year, though several Global South representatives pushed for a legally binding treaty.
'We need a fossil fuel treaty that creates the necessary architecture for a just transition,' said Cedric Dzelu, technical director to Ghana’s minister for climate change and sustainability, arguing past accords lacked enforceable measures, financing and fair implementation. Panama’s special climate representative, Juan Carlos Monterrey, said any legal instrument must specify what will be phased out and how it will be financed, and warned that fossil-fuel-based economies are already destabilizing.
The next meeting is planned for Tuvalu, the low-lying Pacific island nation acutely exposed to sea-level rise.
Edited by Tamsin Walker