First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels: Outcomes and commitments from Santa Marta
Between April 24 and 29, 2026, the governments of Colombia and the Netherlands convened 57 countries in Santa Marta, representing approximately one-third of the global GDP, for the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels. The main purpose of the meeting was to advance and accelerate the implementation of the commitments made under the Paris Agreement, motivated by the consensus at COP28 to address climate change, safeguard energy security, and build economic resilience against volatile fossil fuel markets and geopolitical disruptions.
The event brought together national governments along with subnational governments, academia, social movements, the private sector, and financial institutions, establishing a space to plan the decarbonization of economic and energy systems. Technical discussions centered on three key themes: “reducing economic dependence on fossil fuels, transforming supply and demand, advancing international cooperation”.
The conference concluded with the delivery of five key outcomes structured by the co-hosts:
- Sustained commitment to deliver: A second conference was announced for 2027, which will be co-hosted by Tuvalu and Ireland.
- Coordination group: A follow-up team will be formed, consisting of Colombia, the Netherlands, Tuvalu, Ireland, and existing alliances to avoid duplication of efforts and connect with the COP30 Activation Group 4 focused on “Transitioning away from fossil fuels in a just, orderly and equitable manner”.
- Multilateral complementarity: The conference report will be handed over to the COP30 Presidency and the Secretary-General of the United Nations to align the outcomes with the Global Climate Action Agenda and “channel these contributions toward the second Global Stocktake (GST2)”.
- Three workstreams: Technical cooperation pathways will be established, aimed at:
- The development of roadmaps connected to the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
- The review of macroeconomic dependencies and the financial architecture.
- The alignment between producers and consumers to advance toward a fossil fuel-free trade system.
- Science Panel: The Science Panel for the Global Energy Transition (SPGET) was officially launched, aimed at helping “develop roadmaps aligned with the 1.5°C trajectory, aimed at dismantling legal, financial, and political barriers to the energy transition”.
During thematic debates, fiscal dependency was identified as a key constraint, making it imperative to “move from fiscal lock-in and debt-constrained fiscal space to sovereign transition capacity”. At the market level, delegates recognized that misguided financial incentives and subsidies “continue to keep fossil fuels artificially competitive, delay clean alternatives, and create distributional tensions”. Finally, it was emphasized that a just transition requires a broad transformation to overcome structural dependencies and include communities, ensuring labor rights and social inclusion.
Tuvalu and Ireland’s leadership for 2027
According to the summit’s first operational outcome, Tuvalu and Ireland will take on the co-hosting of the second edition of the forum, “with the main conference taking place in Tuvalu and a pre-conference meeting in Ireland”. Additionally, both nations will have a structural follow-up role by joining the core coordination group, whose purpose will be to “ensure continuity towards the second and subsequent conferences”.
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