The Colombian city of Santa Marta has become in these days the political and scientific epicenter of the debate on how leaving behind oil, gas and coalThe first Conference for the Transition Beyond Fossil Fuels was held there, an event that brought together delegations from more than 50 countries, thousands of participants and a strong presence of social movements.
For almost a week, governments, experts, and organizations have tried to answer a question that has been hanging in the air for years: how to plan, finance and execute a orderly exit from fossil fuels without crippling economies and while guaranteeing social justice. The result is a process that is still in its early stages, but with decisions that point to a shift in climate diplomacy.
A new political process: the shift of fossil fuels to the center of the agenda
The Santa Marta Conference was born precisely from the perception that The Paris Agreement left a significant gap.It sets emissions reduction targets, but does not clearly define how the extraction and use of fossil fuels should be phased out. This gap has been the starting point for the Colombian meeting.
According to organizations such as Ecologists in Action or the Climate Alliance, For the first time, more than 50 governments have placed the phasing out of fossil fuels at the explicit center of the global agenda.It's not just about talking about renewables or efficiencybut to put a date and shape to the decline of oil, gas and coal.
This space is conceived as complementary to the formal UN negotiationsBut with a different political landscape: less presence of reluctant major producers and a greater role for countries willing to make commitments. The absence of powers like the United States, China, and Saudi Arabia has resulted in a coalition of countries that, despite not being the largest emitters, account for more than half of global GDP and a significant portion of energy demand.
Colombian Environment Minister Irene Vélez, who chaired the talks, summarized it by stating that the countries present "They have decided not to resign themselves to an economy built on the destruction of life"The political message is clear: the energy transition can no longer remain a slogan; it must be translated into concrete decisions.
For six days, the delegations have discussed how decarbonize their trade balances, reform tax systems, and reorient trade and investment to make the orderly removal of fossils possible. The result is not yet a treaty, but it is a working basis for the coming years.
The Scientific Panel on the Global Energy Transition (SPGET)
One of the main outcomes of the summit has been the creation of the Scientific Panel on the Global Energy Transition (SPGET), conceived as a technical tool to help countries design realistic roadmaps compatible with the 1,5°C limit of the Paris Agreement.
According to the Colombian Ministry of Environment and organizations such as WWF, this new panel will have the task of Identify concrete options to reduce dependence on fossil fuelsTo analyze the legal, financial and political barriers that hinder decarbonization and to propose solutions adapted to different national contexts.
SPGET is partly inspired by the workings of bodies such as the British Committee on Climate Change, but incorporates a key feature: a strong representation of countries from the Global South and small island states like Tuvalu or Vanuatu, which experience the climate crisis as an immediate threat and not as a distant horizon.
Their mission will be to explain in a very concrete way. How to abandon oil, gas, and coal, sector by sector and country by countrywith objectives and timelines compatible with scenarios that keep the temperature within the safe threshold. All of this, its proponents insist, must be done while shielding scientific work from political and economic pressures.
The structure of the panel will be defined between this first conference and the next, and is planned as “open and flexible”so that countries can join or lead specific initiatives with the support of the scientific community. It is expected that their analyses will inform both national decisions and the debates at upcoming climate summits.
Roadmaps, legal barriers and finances: the core of the debate
Beyond the creation of SPGET, the summit agreed on three main lines of work to guide the process. The first, perhaps the most visible, is the design of national roadmaps for the phase-out of fossil fuels, with sectoral calendars and goals.
Although each country will start from a different situation, the shared idea is that these roadmaps must be integralsThese objectives cannot remain solely within the purview of the environmental ministries; they must involve finance, energy, industry, labor, and economic planning. The aim is to prevent abrupt closures like the one Santa Marta itself experienced with the closure of two coal mines without prior planning.
A second line focuses on dismantle legal and financial barriers that currently protect the fossil fuel industry. These include investment treaties that shield large corporations and allow them to sue states that attempt to legislate in favor of the climate, and high levels of debt that compel many countries to continue exploiting fossil fuels to pay off their external debt.
Third, the process aims at transformation of supply and demandIt is not enough for consumers to reduce their use of fossil fuels if, at the same time, the extraction and transportation infrastructure continues to expand. Hence the recurring reference to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Fossil Fuels, which proposes to curb the expansion of new projects.
The debates have also addressed the role of the fossil subsidies and the public revenues associated with the sectorespecially in Latin America. Cases like Colombia, where fuel subsidies have grown significantly in recent years, demonstrate the difficulty of reconciling short-term social protection with a credible decarbonization path.
European support, Spain's role and pressures on the Government
Europe has had a prominent presence in Santa Marta. Fourteen European Union countries, including Spain, have signed a joint declaration in which they express their “firm support” for the process and value the leadership of Colombia and the Netherlands as co-hosts of the conference.
In that document, European governments emphasize that The gradual phase-out of fossil fuels reduces economic and geopolitical vulnerabilities.by reducing exposure to price volatility, international conflicts and energy crises that have occurred in recent years.
The Spanish delegation has played a particularly prominent role. The Third Vice-President and Minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, has participated in the high-level segment arguing that Moving forward with the energy transition means moving forward with sovereigntyto reduce dependencies and avoid future “fossil wars”.
Aagesen also highlighted the implementation of specific working groups on finance, trade and roadmaps for the gradual abandonment of fossil fuels. And he insisted that what happened in Santa Marta represents “concrete steps” towards reaching the next climate summits with renewed political momentum.
Meanwhile, Spain and Colombia have taken advantage of the conference to renew its Memorandum of Understanding on energy transitionStrengthening cooperation in renewable energy, sustainable mobility, and climate finance. An alliance that seeks to accelerate the decarbonization of both economies and share regulatory and technological expertise.
However, external support has not prevented Spanish environmental organizations from increasing their pressure on the government. Voices such as those of WWF, Greenpeace, and Ecologistas en Acción are demanding action. a state plan with clear objectives, defined deadlines, taxes on the fossil fuel industry and an end to subsidies that continue to support the current model.
Binding treaty or voluntary commitments: the great diplomatic showdown
One of the fundamental debates that has taken place at the conference is the dilemma between moving towards a binding international instrument to regulate the production of fossil fuels or continue to rely on voluntary commitments and political declarations.
Several civil society organizations, along with legal and climate experts, argue that the only path consistent with international climate law It is a treaty that would require keeping a large portion of fossil fuel reserves underground. Without such a tool, they warn, there is a risk that the promises will remain just empty words.
For now, the conference has been limited to to politically recognize the need for this new instrumentwithout setting a timetable or a formal negotiation mandate. For environmental groups, this is insufficient progress; for many governments, it represents a realistic first step in a particularly tense geopolitical context.
Representatives of platforms such as the Campaign for a Fossil Fuel Treaty interpret the current context as a clear sign of change: The transition beyond fossils is considered inevitableAnd the real challenge lies in how to ensure that it is fair, gradual, and equitable.
The UN Under-Secretary-General for Climate Action, Selwin Hart, recalled in Santa Marta that “All climate indicators are in the red” And the common element remains the burning of fossil fuels. A reminder that, regardless of diplomatic rhythms, the climate clock keeps ticking.
Next stop: Tuvalu 2027 and the connection with the COPs
To ensure the continuity of the process, the participating countries have agreed to hold a second conference in early 2027 in Tuvaluwhich will be co-chaired by this small Pacific island nation and Ireland. Shifting the epicenter of the debate to a particularly vulnerable nation is intended to send a powerful symbolic and political message.
Between the two appointments, a international coordination group This group is responsible for forging alliances, avoiding duplication with other initiatives, and preparing the content for future conferences. It includes countries such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, Brazil, France, and the Marshall Islands, along with co-hosts Colombia, the Netherlands, Tuvalu, and Ireland.
The results of the Santa Marta process will be shared with the COP30 Presidencywhich will have to integrate them into its roadmap, and they will align with the COP31 Action Agenda, scheduled to take place in Turkey. The intention is that what is discussed in this forum will not remain parallel to the UN Framework Convention, but rather directly feed into the global balances of the Paris Agreement.
In particular, SPGET's scientific and policy work is expected to contribute to Second Global BalanceThe mechanism that assesses every five years whether or not the world is on a path compatible with the 1,5°C target. If confirmed, the Santa Marta Summit would consolidate its position as a relevant platform within the complex framework of climate governance.
Organizations like the Climate Alliance see this continuity as an opportunity to prevent the process from becoming a mere “gathering of impressions.” The real test, they warn, will come when the time comes to present the findings. concrete implementation tests in Tuvalu and at the upcoming COPs.
Social mobilization and indigenous peoples: climate justice on the front lines
While the official sessions were taking place, Santa Marta also hosted a People's Summit It has brought together indigenous communities, international organizations, youth movements, and social groups from several continents. Its goal: to place climate justice at the center of the discussion.
At that parallel summit, a declaration was approved that It links the climate crisis to the dynamics of capitalism, colonialism, and militarism., and demands that the countries of the Global North recognize and assume their ecological debt to the regions most affected by global warming.
The street protests, under slogans such as "a fossil fuel-free future", were intended to remind governments that The removal of fossils is not optional.but a condition for survival. The question, according to spokespeople for platforms like Gas Is Not the Solution, is how to ensure that this transition is both rapid and fair.
The demands of civil society have been articulated around three main axes: phase-out of fossil fuels, effective financing for developing countries, and recognition of ecological debt of the historically most polluting economies.
In this context, the following have had a very visible presence: Indigenous peoples of Africa, America, Asia and OceaniaThey have insisted that their territories cannot continue to be sacrifice zones for resource extraction. Representatives from the Amazon, the Andes, and other communities have called for keeping fossil fuels and other resources underground and for pursuing alternative development models.
During the pre-assembly of peoples, the demand has been clear: Protect indigenous territories from the extraction of oil, gas, coal and mineralsto guarantee genuine prior consultation and respect communities as the legitimate owners of their lands. A message that several leaders subsequently carried over to the high-level segment of the conference.
Latin American dimension and experiences in just transition
Latin America has arrived in Santa Marta with a double face: on the one hand, a strong dependence on fossil fuel rentsOn the other hand, there is enormous potential for renewable energy and new value chains linked to critical minerals such as lithium or copper.
Data on reserves and subsidies show the scale of the challenge. The region concentrates a significant portion of the world's oil and gasAnd countries like Colombia have significantly increased their fuel subsidies in recent years, placing them close to 2% of GDP, according to energy monitoring platforms.
In response, the Latin American process surrounding Santa Marta proposes three key components for a just transitionFirstly, a labor retraining program with rights, which is not limited to changing jobs, but guarantees social protection, pensions and collective bargaining for workers in the fossil fuel industries.
In second place, a diversification of tax revenues through carbon taxes, levies on the windfall profits of fossil fuel companies and a phase-out of subsidies, starting with those that primarily benefit large industrial consumers.
The third component focuses on Develop value chains linked to the clean economyThe region, which currently exports most of its minerals unprocessed, aims to generate more employment and local wealth by linking extraction to the manufacture of components for renewable technologies and energy storage.
Experiences like that of Santa Marta, where the abrupt closure of coal mines caused a local economic crisis, have been cited as examples of What happens when the transition is not plannedToday, communities, workers, and universities in the area are experimenting with new livelihoods, seeking to demonstrate that another economy is possible if it is done in an orderly manner.
Science, local knowledge and well-being at the heart of the transition
The scientific dimension of the summit was not limited to the SPGET announcement. A [unclear - possibly "conference/meeting/event/etc.]" was organized beforehand. academic pre-conference in which researchers from different countries, together with local communities, discussed how to place scientific evidence and other knowledge at the core of public decisions.
The Colombian Ministry of Environment has emphasized the importance of integrate academic knowledge with other forms of knowledgeincluding Indigenous and community worldviews. The goal is to ensure that policies are not designed without considering the perspectives of those living in the affected territories.
In these debates, the idea that the energy transition must putting well-being at the centerIt is not just about reducing emissions, but about improving health, quality of life and equity in access to opportunities, preventing the transition from deepening existing inequalities.
Academic spokespeople will present these conclusions to the policymakers from more than 50 countries during the high-level segment, in the presence of figures such as Colombian President Gustavo Petro and various climate and energy ministers, including the Spanish Minister for Ecological Transition.
For a large part of the scientific community and civil society, the great challenge now is to ensure that these recommendations do not remain mere reference documents, but rather shape budgets, regulations, and investment decisions in the next years.
The Santa Marta Summit leaves behind a bittersweet feeling: on the one hand, the launch of a political and scientific process that finally addresses the phasing out of fossil fuels head-on; on the other, the still absence of legally binding commitments, fixed timetables, and sufficient fundingMuch of the climate policy of the next decade will be played out between these two poles, with Spain and the European Union called upon to strengthen their role if they want the transition to be not only inevitable but also rapid, fair, and credible.