Photograph: Iván Valencia/AP
Frustrated by the outcome of the latest UN COP, 60 countries backed voluntary roadmaps to wean the world off coal, oil and gas, at the inaugural Conference on Transitioning away from Fossil Fuels, hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands. Activists, Indigenous leaders, scientists, and other experts gathered in Santa Marta to highlight the social and economic impacts of fossil fuels and ways to curb demand, discussing trade, debt, the dependence of producer countries on fossil fuel exports, and methods to reduce demand. The voluntary plans will form the bedrock of a new initiative to wean the world off coal, oil and gas, the focus of two days of intensive talks in Colombia on April 28-29, 2026.
The approach marks a departure from the annual UN climate negotiations, which have run for more than three decades even as greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise. Most of the world’s biggest emitters are absent from the group of 59 participants, though other countries are being invited to join.
“We, of course, didn’t know that war was going to break out, but we knew the challenges of a dependency on fossil fuels,” said Irene Vélez Torres, Colombia’s environment minister, who will preside over the talks. “This conference comes in the best possible moment.”
The oil crisis, sparked by the US-Israeli attack on Iran, is spotlighting the stark choice world leaders face between oil, gas and coal and the cleaner, safer renewable energy of the future. This is “the moment in which history is going to split,” said Vélez.
Spurred by soaring prices, some countries – and millions of individuals – are already making the switch. Record numbers of households in the UK are turning to solar panels, electric vehicles and heat pumps. Not counting China, global power generation from coal and gas has fallen, while renewables have surged ahead, with solar generation up 14% and wind by 8%. After the closure of the Hormuz Strait, coal-fired power generation fell in the US, India, the EU, Turkey and South Africa, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, despite fears that countries would return to coal.
Irene Vélez Torres, Colombia’s environment minister and chair of the talks, said: “We decided not to resign ourselves to an economy built on the destruction of life. We decided that the transition away from fossil fuels could no longer remain a slogan but must become a concrete, political and collective endeavour.
Minister for Climate Darragh O’Brien welcomed the decision to hand over to Ireland and Tuvalu in 2027, after Colombia and the Netherlands were the first co-hosts. “Ireland is committed to the transition away from fossil fuels and towards clean energy,” he said. About 83 per cent of Ireland’s energy – for transport, heating and electricity generation – still comes from oil and gas.
Ireland was one of the original group of 24 countries to sign up to the initiative to have a “transition away” movement in parallel with the annual Cops. Successive governments have also supported IrishAid to work closely with the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis) in advocating for climate finance and assistance for small nations most at risk from climate change. Ireland’s commitment to this initiative will offer an excellent opportunity to present the SH2AMROCK ambition.