After several days of talks at the first-ever gathering devoted to phasing out fossil fuels, ministers, climate campaigners and finance specialists from more than 50 countries agreed on a set of outcomes aimed at keeping momentum for a clean-energy future.
Held in Santa Marta on Colombia’s coast and hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands, the meeting sought to build cooperation among countries willing to move away from coal, oil and gas. Maina Vakafua Talia, Tuvalu’s minister for home affairs, climate change and environment, said delegates were “making history” and called for collective action to close governance gaps.
Finding common ground is difficult because countries face different situations. Exporters of coal, oil and gas confront structural economic and legal challenges; importers worry about energy security and costs. Colombia, for example, relies heavily on coal exports to markets including Europe. A rapid shutdown would require alternative livelihoods, legal safeguards against investor lawsuits and significant planning and funding to manage social impacts.
Germany’s Coal Commission — created in 2019 to bring stakeholders together and plan a socially fair phase-out — is one model cited at the talks. Germany aims to end coal-fired power generation by 2038. Some former lignite mines there have already been converted into lakes with recreational benefits, illustrating how transitions can be managed locally.
Unlike large annual UN climate conferences, where fossil fuel interests are often present, the Santa Marta meeting was intended as a “coalition of the willing.” Hosts convened the meeting after COP30 in Brazil, where a proposal for a road map to phase out fossil fuels was blocked. Participants at Santa Marta welcomed a less formal, more collaborative atmosphere; former Irish president and climate justice advocate Mary Robinson said the talks felt more cooperative than the traditional COP format.
Several concrete ideas and national plans were discussed. France presented a road map that aligns existing targets to reduce the share of fossil fuels in final energy consumption to 40% by 2030 and 30% by 2035, phasing out coal by 2027, oil by 2045 and fossil gas by 2050. NGOs said France’s plan is welcome but insufficient given the escalating climate emergency, which has seen almost the entire planet record above-average temperatures in recent years.
Financing the transition remains central. Developing countries face high borrowing costs and limited capital access, making the shift to renewables and electrification harder. The Netherlands emphasized affordable financing and called for cuts to fossil fuel subsidies, which still amount to around $920 billion globally.
Energy security and geopolitical tensions were recurring themes. Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro criticized the global economic model tied to fossil fuel consumption and linked conflicts to competition over resources. EU climate chief Wopke Hoekstra highlighted the cost of dependence on imports, noting Europe’s fossil fuel import bill rose by over €22 billion in about two months without adding new energy capacity. He urged a road map that builds on UN goals to triple renewable energy capacity and double energy efficiency by 2030, ends new extraction and exploration, and decarbonizes transport, aviation and shipping.
Germany attended without a minister, represented by climate diplomat Jochen Flasbarth. The German government remains divided: the environment ministry pushes faster renewable expansion, while the economy minister, Katherina Reiche, supports policies that would prolong fossil fuel use.
Participants agreed there would be no single defining road map or binding treaty this year, though some Global South delegates pushed for stronger, enforceable commitments. Cristian Retamal, an associate researcher at Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, described the talks as constructive but cautioned that the real impact of this emerging coalition will unfold over months and years.
Calls for a fossil fuel treaty were voiced by delegates who want an instrument that ensures a just transition, clear phase-out targets and financing mechanisms. Cedric Dzelu, Ghana’s technical director in the office of the minister for climate change and sustainability, said past agreements have fallen short on policy detail, funding and equitable implementation. Juan Carlos Monterrey, Panama’s special representative for climate change, said a legal instrument naming what it phases out and how it will be financed is needed, but acknowledged a treaty would take time.
Despite the lack of an immediate binding outcome, delegates left determined. “Economies built on fossil fuels are unraveling in real time. Fossil fuels are not just dirty. They are unreliable. They are dangerous. And they must end,” Monterrey said.
The conference also set a date for the next meeting: Tuvalu, a Pacific island nation vulnerable to sea-level rise, will host next year’s talks. Edited by Tamsin Walker