Switzerland praises first conference on phase-out of fossil fuels

This was the First Conference on the Transition away from Fossil Fuels. Keystone-SDA

Switzerland was among 57 countries to take part in the first Conference on the Transition away from Fossil Fuels held in Santa Maria, Colombia. The Swiss government applauded moves towards concrete strategies to phase out fossil fuels.

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By participating, Switzerland has shown that it is actively committed to the Paris climate goals, the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) announced on Thursday. In order to achieve these goals, Switzerland is prepared to share its own experiences and work together with other countries.

The focus of the two-day conference, which was organised by Colombia and the Netherlands, was therefore not on negotiating new climate targets. Instead, the priority was on making progress in implementing existing commitments.

Intention, phase-out, reduction – but how?

The focus was on reducing economic dependence on fossil fuels, restructuring supply and demand in the energy sector and strengthening international cooperation.

According to the FOEN, the conference showed that there is great interest in the latter. In the aftermath, the department spoke of a “success”: concrete strategies are being developed in many countries to phase out fossil fuels. This also applies to countries such as Colombia and Nigeria, where there is a strong economic dependency on fossil resources.

As a result of the meeting, the hosts defined several areas of work in which countries should work more closely together in future. These include national roadmaps, financing issues and better coordination between producers and consumers of fossil fuels. A scientific committee was also presented to support countries in planning the energy transition.

No binding framework

However, conference participants and organisations such as the “Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative” pointed out that a binding international framework for phasing out fossil fuels is still lacking.

A follow-up conference is planned for 2027 and is to be organised by the Pacific island state of Tuvalu together with Ireland.

The conference is intended as a complement to the UN climate negotiations and as a reaction to the slow progress in global agreements on phasing out fossil fuels. Coal, oil and gas are responsible for the majority of global greenhouse gas emissions and are seen as the main drivers of the climate crisis.

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Translated from German by AI/jdp

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