More than 50 governments, around 400 scientists, and representatives of civil society, indigenous and Afro-descendant communities gathered this week in Santa Marta, a Caribbean port city on Colombia's northern coast, for the First Conference for the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels. Running from 24 to 29 April, the landmark event marks the first international political forum dedicated specifically to phasing out coal, oil, and gas — the primary drivers of global warming — outside the United Nations climate process.
The conference, co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands, reflects growing frustration with the slow pace of UN climate summits such as the COP process, which have repeatedly failed to produce binding commitments on fossil fuel reduction. Attendees include major fossil fuel producers Canada, Norway, Australia, Nigeria, Angola, and Brazil, alongside European Union nations, coal-dependent emerging economies such as Türkiye and Vietnam, and small island states acutely vulnerable to climate change. Notably absent are the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters — the United States, China, and India — as well as Gulf oil states. The conference is not expected to yield binding agreements, but organisers and delegates say the urgency of the moment has sharpened minds. The UK's special climate envoy Rachel Kyte noted that participants seemed "refreshed" to discuss the issue without relitigating whether action is necessary at all, adding that recent instability in global energy markets following the Iran conflict had reinforced the case for transitioning away from fossil fuels: "Fossil fuels are now clearly to be seen as a source of instability."
A central outcome of the conference is the launch of a new international scientific panel on energy transition, to be based in São Paulo, Brazil. Conceived at the request of the Brazilian COP30 presidency and led by Brazilian climatologist Carlos Nobre and Swedish researcher Johan Rockström of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the panel aims to fill a gap left by existing bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which publishes comprehensive assessments only every six or seven years. The new panel intends to deliver faster, more targeted scientific guidance tailored to individual national contexts — helping governments design realistic, sector-by-sector roadmaps for phasing out fossil fuels in line with limiting warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Its first report is expected to coincide with COP31, scheduled for Turkey in November. Colombia's Environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres, who is leading the conference, said the panel was a response to a growing divide between scientific evidence and government decision-making, driven by economic lobbying and a more sophisticated form of climate denial that no longer rejects warming outright but seeks to delay and discredit solutions.
On the policy side, a 12-point menu of recommendations released by scientists on Sunday called for a halt on all new fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure projects. "Without a doubt, there is no justification whatsoever for any new exploration of fossil fuels," Nobre said. Experts and NGOs also pointed to the need to tax major energy companies' profits and dismantle international arbitration mechanisms that protect fossil fuel investments — with campaigners arguing that oil and gas firms are "profiting from our dependency." A separate analysis published during the conference found that governments worldwide still spend five times more public money supporting fossil fuels than renewable energy alternatives.
Why this matters: The Santa Marta conference represents an attempt to break the political deadlock that has stalled more decisive action at UN climate talks. With the world already approximately 1.4°C warmer than pre-industrial levels and on course to breach the 1.5°C threshold within years — a level scientists warn could trigger the irreversible loss of coral reefs and polar ice sheets — the window for an orderly transition is narrowing fast. The new scientific panel and the political momentum building outside the formal UN process may prove critical in translating climate science into concrete national policy before that window closes.