Conference pushing to ‘phase out fossil fuels’ hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands

Concerned about the slow pace of progress by organizations under the control of the United Nations with regard to the world’s elimination of fossil fuel use, a summit jointly chaired by Colombia and the Netherlands was held in Santa Marta, Colombia, on April 24-29, 2026. The summit was termed “The inaugural Conference on Transitioning away from Fossil Fuels.” In an article, The Associated Press, via the CBC, contends that “the meeting reflects growing frustration among some governments and advocates that decades of UN [United Nations] climate negotiations have failed to directly address fossil fuel production, prompting the Santa Marta summit to push the issue outside formal [United Nations] talks.”

The article states that around 57 countries attended the conference. Among them were attendees from Asia, Europe, Latin America, Africa, Australia, Canada and the Small Island Country, Tuvalu. China, the United States and India did not attend, though the State of California and many independent interest groups sent representatives.

The conference produced no tangible agreement, but some major issues were assessed. For example, according to The Associated Press, the conference heard a presentation which claimed that moving away from fossil fuel and incorporating the use of renewable energy does not only reduce harmful greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, but also reduces the world’s dependence on an unreliable energy source that, on a frequent basis, causes severe disruptions to the world’s economy. The issue and disputes surrounding climate change adaptation and mitigation financial assistance by Developed Countries to Developing Countries, were also discussed.

The achievement of the summit was psychological in nature; it showed the world that climate change impacts have sufficiently driven many countries to come to the conclusion that current UN global organizations are not moving fast enough to provide solutions to the climate crisis, and they are now willing to collectively take action outside of the UN’s framework.

The conference exhibited a significant amount of optimism and has convened another summit to be held in Tuvalu in 2027, to be hosted by both Tuvalu and Ireland.