The world’s first conference aiming to break fossil fuel dependency held in Santa Maria, Columbia, and attended by almost 60 countries, was a bold attempt to get the phase-out of these fuels back onto the global agenda. It has secured a strong outcome and boosted efforts for an accelerated transition away from energy sources that are the largest source of carbon emissions.
As energy analysts E3G noted, it marks a clear shift, “from ambition-setting to the harder politics of managing fossil fuel decline, strengthening economic resilience, and building diversified, clean energy systems”. It recognised the energy transition is central to long-term energy security, affordability and stability.
The summit, held last week, heard calls for an international instrument to ensure coal, oil and gas stay in the ground and strengthened the case for a binding fossil fuel treaty. The number of attendees was modest compared to almost 200 countries who are part of the UN Cops process. But they represented about a fifth of global producers and nearly a third of consumers, including some putting in place their national phase-out roadmaps.
Predictably, petrostates and the biggest carbon polluters did not attend, including the US, China, India and producers from the Gulf. The larger consensus-based annual Cops summit is increasingly cumbersome with these countries undermining ambition – but last week’s meeting can help break the global roadmap impasse.
RM Block
The second energy crisis in less than five years and an estimate that the Middle East conflict could cost the world $1 trillion ensured there was an emergency mindset. Spanish minister Sara Aagesen called it a “fossil fuel war”, arguing the climate agenda was also one of security, economy and social rights and stressing the need for countries to ensure energy sovereignty.
There was endorsement of moving economies away from fossil fuels as the more affordable, safer and more secure course. There was also acceptance that addressing debt, especially in the Global South, must be a central plank of any global platform of climate action. This is due to many fossil-fuel countries being pushed into expanding production to feed their debt.
Last year’s Cop30 in Brazil failed to meet promises to deliver a roadmap to phasing out fossil fuels. Ireland did not have ministerial representation in Columbia though it supported the process and with Tuvalu will co-host the second conference in 2027.
The Santa Maria process can complement future Cops and feed into a fossil fuel phase-out roadmap promised by Cop30 president Brazil for Cop31 in Türkiye. The Government needs to underline its credibility by setting out Ireland’s roadmap to phasing out fossil fuels.
