Colombia is seeking to use this year\u2019s first global conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels to launch a permanent platform that would help a \u201ccoalition of the willing\u201d accelerate the shift away from planet-heating coal, oil and gas beyond the UN climate process.<\/p>\n
The flagship event, due to take place in the Colombian city of Santa Marta on April 28-29, will bring together countries that recognise the urgency of the fossil fuel transition to build the political and financial means to make it viable, Maria Fernanda Torres Penagos, director of climate change in Colombia\u2019s Environment Ministry, told a briefing hosted by the World Resources Institute (WRI).<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough there is growing consensus to gradually eliminate fossil fuels, there were still no specific spaces or meeting places dedicated to comprehending and addressing the pathways needed to overcome economic, fiscal and social dependence on fossil fuels, especially for producing countries,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Necessary complement\u2019 to UNFCCC<\/p>\n
Co-hosted by the Netherlands, the conference will convene governments, experts, industry leaders and Indigenous representatives to map \u201clegal, economic and social pathways\u201d for a just phase-out of fossil fuels. The initiative won public support at COP30 from 24 countries,<\/a> including major fossil fuel producers Australia and Mexico, alongside several European, Latin American and Pacific island nations.<\/p>\n The event is regarded as an attempt to advance global discussions on transitioning away from fossil fuels alongside the formal UN climate negotiations. Since governments made a broad commitment to do that at the COP28 climate summit in 2023, strong opposition from petrostates has stalled progress on addressing the primary cause of global warming.<\/p>\n Former Irish President and climate justice advocate Mary Robinson told this week\u2019s briefing that the conference is a \u201cnecessary complement\u201d to the UN climate regime. \u201cThe UNFCCC has been so invaded by the fossil fuel lobby that it is incapable now of including in its outcomes that we must phase out fossil fuels,\u201d she added. \u201cIt seems ridiculous, but it is the reality.\u201d<\/p>\n