Colombia and the Netherlands hosted a conference in Santa Marta, attended by 57 countries, to develop roadmaps for phasing out fossil fuels. Major emitters like China and the US did not participate. Participants committed to national plans ahead of future meetings.
In response to stalled progress at COP30 in Brazil last November, where petrostates blocked mentions of fossil fuels, Colombia and the Netherlands organized a summit this week in the port city of Santa Marta. The event drew a 'coalition of the willing,' including the European Union, UK, Canada, Nigeria, and Norway. Johan Rockström of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research described it as 'not about negotiations... but focused entirely on how to accelerate and move forward on the phase-out of fossil fuels.' He called it 'a first attempt of really moving forward on implementation.'Participants agreed to create national roadmaps covering both domestic consumption and exports of fossil fuels, ahead of a follow-up conference next year in Tuvalu and a pre-conference in Ireland. In Santa Marta, academics presented a roadmap for Colombia to cut energy emissions by 90% by 2050, potentially yielding $280 billion in economic benefits. France issued the first high-income country roadmap, setting deadlines to end coal by 2030, oil by 2045, and gas by 2050.The summit addressed financial barriers, such as hydrocarbon subsidies and debt pressures on low-income countries. Jeni Miller of the Global Climate and Health Alliance said there is 'a pathway... to stop subsidising fossil fuels and redirect those funds' to climate finance. Critics like Simon Sharpe of S-Curve Economics noted the absence of China, India, and South Africa, arguing diplomacy must include key players. Joanna Depledge of the University of Cambridge questioned whether such gatherings preach to the converted or advance broader COP consensus.
