Colombia summit marks ‘historic’ step toward phase-out of fossil fuels
Series Switzerland and fossil fuels,
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Officials, climate advocates and financial experts from nearly 60 countries, including Switzerland, gathered in Santa Marta, Colombia, this week to discuss how to move away from fossil fuels. Switzerland’s environment ambassador described the outcome as positive.
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Colombia summit marks ‘historic’ step toward phase-out of fossil fuels
“The fact that 57 countries came together to discuss openly how to gradually move away from fossil fuels is extremely positive,” Felix Wertli, Switzerland’s representative, told Swissinfo. “Everyone is moving in the right direction.”
The first “Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels” took place in Santa Marta, Colombia, from April 24–29 and was co‑organised by Colombia and the Netherlands. It was the first international summit devoted exclusively to phasing out fossil energy. About 1,500 participants – including government officials, climate activists, academics and financial experts – discussed pathways towards sustainable energy systems.
The meeting came amid sharp rises in global oil and natural gas prices, driven by the conflict in the Middle East and the disruption of supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. Coal, oil and gas are responsible for most global greenhouse‑gas emissions and remain the main drivers of the climate crisis.
While the conference produced no binding commitments, it resulted in a number of preliminary outcomesExternal link. The host countries identified key areas for closer cooperation, including national roadmaps for phasing out fossil fuels, financing the transition, and improved coordination between fossil fuel producers and consumers.
“This is the beginning of a new global climate democracy,” Irene Vélez Torres, Colombia’s environment minister and chair of the talks, said. The meeting created a new space for dialogue in response to the slow progress of negotiations within the UN system.
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A ‘coalition of the willing’ to end fossil fuels
Participation in the Santa Marta conference was limited to countries prepared to commit to a gradual phase-out of fossil fuels. This so‑called “coalition of the willing” represents nearly one-third of global energy demand and around one-fifth of global fossil fuel supply.
Alongside Switzerland, it includes many countries from Europe, Latin America and the Asia‑Pacific region, including fossil‑fuel producers such as Brazil, Norway and Canada. Absent, however, were the world’s largest emitters: the United States, China, India and Russia, as well as the oil‑producing states of the Gulf.
“Santa Marta represents a historic breakthrough: it is the first time we bring together a group of nations willing to act,” said Tzeporah Berman, founder and chair of the Fossil Fuel Non‑Proliferation Treaty Initiative. “We are building a coalition of ambitious countries willing to lead and to break the consensus deadlock that has paralysed concrete action on fossil fuels in UN negotiations,” she told The GuardianExternal link newspaper.
Switzerland would like to see this group expand. “We need to extend a hand so that interested countries can join. It is important that this process is not closed, but open to anyone,” Wertli said.
Unlike traditional UN climate summits, known as COPs, the Santa Marta meeting gave unprecedented prominence to civil society and Indigenous communities. A new international panel of scientistsExternal link was also established to advise governments on how to phase out fossil fuels fairly and in line with the goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C.
National roadmaps to phase out fossil fuels
Governments have been invited to develop voluntary national roadmaps outlining how they plan to end the production and use of fossil fuels. These are intended to underpin a new global initiative to reduce dependence on oil, gas and coal.
On Tuesday France became the first industrialised country to present such a roadmap, with target dates of 2030 for coal, 2045 for oil and 2050 for gas. Colombia and Brazil have also begun work on their own transition strategies.
Switzerland does not currently have a single national roadmap setting out timelines for abandoning fossil fuels. “The country already has key elements [to carry out the transition], such as the Climate Act, the CO₂ Act and the Energy Strategy 2050. In practice, it is as if Switzerland already had a fossil-fuel roadmap,” said Wertli.
Supporting poorer countries
A central message from the conference was that roadmaps must go beyond technical pathways to a zero‑carbon future, saidExternal link Paola Yanguas Parra, a policy adviser at the International Institute for Sustainable Development. “They need to address the myriad institutional, financial and political barriers that hold back progress.”
Organisers stressedExternal link that moving away from fossil fuels requires far‑reaching economic transformation – tackling structural dependencies and debt constraints, expanding reliable energy access, and building more resilient and diversified economies.
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Participating countries agreed to support poorer nations by providing technical assistance to help develop roadmaps. The outcomes also include a review of fossil-fuel subsidies and closer cooperation on trade policy and financial system.
A second summit on fossil fuels in Tuvalu
Countries meeting in Santa Marta agreed to continue the process. The second international conference on the transition away from fossil fuels will be held in early 2027 on the Pacific island state of Tuvalu, co‑hosted by Ireland.
Whether the momentum generated in Colombia will translate into lasting influence on formal multilateral negotiations remains to be seen. A first test will come in June in Bonn, Germany, where preparatory talks will resume ahead of the next UN climate conference, COP31, scheduled for November in Antalya, Turkey.
Switzerland, Wertli said, will continue to advocate for a gradual global phase‑out of fossil fuels, as it has done at previous COPs.
Edited by Balz Rigendinger/sb
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