The two-day segment of ministers and senior officials marks the political centerpiece of the First Conference on Transitioning away from Fossil Fuels, where more than 50 countries have been discussing how to move away from oil, gas and coal.
World leaders have gathered in Colombia's Santa Marta for the first-ever global talks to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels, a step participating nations say is not just a climate priority but vital for energy independence.
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The two-day summit of ministers and senior officials marks the political centerpiece of the First Conference on Transitioning away from Fossil Fuels, where more than 50 countries have been discussing how to move away from oil, gas and coal — the main drivers of global warming — toward cleaner energy.
The conference was announced last year after the official UN COP30 climate summit ended in Brazil, which failed to include an explicit reference to fossil fuels in its final deal.
The meeting reflects growing frustration among some governments and advocates that decades of UN climate negotiations have failed to directly address fossil fuel production, prompting the Santa Marta summit to push the issue outside formal talks.
Recent negotiations have acknowledged the need for a transition, but countries remain divided over how to implement it and how to finance the shift.
“The conclusion is unavoidable, we must transition away from fossil fuels — not just because it’s good for climate, but because it strengthens our energy independence and security,” said Stientje van Veldhoven, minister for climate policy and green growth for the Netherlands, which is co-hosting the conference with Colombia.
"We in Europe...are losing half a billion euros each day this war continues," the EU's climate envoy Wopke Hoekstra told delegates.
"We already had a very good reason to move on (from fossil fuels) for climate action...We now also have it for commercial reasons, and reasons of independence."
Energy independence in the wake of the Iran war
Organisers also say the Middle East war, which has throttled Gulf energy exports, has underscored the urgency of breaking fossil fuel dependence.
"Some people use independence, some people use sovereignty, but basically they need energy security," the UK's climate envoy Rachel Kyte told AFP in Santa Marta.
"Increasingly, the world is concluding that fossil fuels are a source of instability."
Even as record investments flow into renewable energy, scientists warn the pace is still too slow to keep global temperature rises to safer levels.
The world has already warmed about 1.4C above pre-industrial times and is tracking to blow past 1.5C in a matter of years.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro warned that “the Amazon rainforest is burning,” adding that “without it we reach a point of no return.”
He said UN climate talks have fallen short, arguing that “the unity of states has failed” and calling for broader action beyond governments.
Petro also linked current conflicts to energy dependence, saying “the wars we are seeing are driven by desperate geopolitical strategies around fossil resources.”
Reducing reliance on fossil fuels a challenge
On the list of attendees are major fossil fuel producers Canada, Norway and Australia, and developing oil giants Nigeria, Angola and Brazil.
They join coal-reliant emerging markets Turkey and Vietnam, and small island nations extremely vulnerable to climate shocks, among others.
But the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases, including the United States, China and India, are not attending, nor are oil-rich Gulf states.
The conference is not expected to produce binding commitments but a set of proposals for countries wanting to gradually swap out fossil fuel production and consumption for cleaner forms of energy.
This is a particular challenge for developing countries heavily reliant on oil and gas revenue, like hosts Colombia.
On Tuesday, France unveiled a fossil fuel "roadmap" setting deadlines to phase out coal by 2030, oil by 2045 and gas by 2050 for energy purposes.
Nations will discuss how to pursue these plans, as well as reforming fossil fuel subsidies that throw up barriers to renewable energy investment, among other issues.
Organizers say the conference is intended to build political momentum and bring together countries willing to accelerate the transition outside the formal UN process.
It is also seen as a steppingstone toward upcoming global climate negotiations, where financing and timelines for reducing fossil fuel use are expected to remain key points of debate.
