News
05/03/26
Colombia sets goals for fossil fuel phase-out event
Sao Paulo, 5 March (Argus) — Colombia and the Netherlands have set out three
priorities for a conference on phasing out fossil fuels they will co-host in
Colombia in April. One of the focuses of the event — which will be held in Santa
Marta on 24-29 April and was first announced during the UN Cop 30 climate summit
in November — will be the economic transition away from dependence on fossil
fuels. "We are saying that productive countries like Colombia, and many others
in the global south, depend economically on the production and export of these
carbon-intensive commodities," Colombian environment minister Irene Velez Torres
said. "We have to be able to make economies move beyond this production model."
The second issue the conference will focus on is the balance between supply and
demand, which includes "key issues" such as energy sovereignty and energy
security, Torres said. "We want European countries in particular — where this
debate has been central to energy policy — to share the challenges and pending
decisions that remain on the table", she added The event will also focus on
fossil fuel subsidies and how to move away from them on a national scale. The
conference is looking for "concrete terms" on how to move away from fossil
fuels, Dutch climate policy minister Stientje van Veldhove said. It will
"concentrate on the practical nuts and bolts of the transition" and draw on
"strong foundations" laid by coalitions such as the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance
and the Powering Past Coal Alliance, she said. The conference will also produce
a report on the topic to be shared with the Cop 30 and Cop 31 presidencies, van
Veldhove said. The Cop 30 presidency pledged at the summit in November to create
a roadmap on the phase out of fossil fuels , which would be presented at Cop 31
— to be held in Turkey in November of this year — after the topic failed to
appear in any of the summit's final texts despite support from over 80 countries
. Almost 200 countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels in a landmark
decision at Cop 28 in 2023, in Dubai. The Cop 30 presidency has said that an
initial draft of the roadmap could be ready by the conference in Colombia .
Additionally, the conference will serve as a complement to the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) instead of replacing it, the head of
international affairs at Colombia's environment ministry Daniela Duran said. "We
want to generate a sense of process," Torres said. "That is to say, this is the
first conference and we want to have the next one. We also want to have a
technical secretary to encourage these debates", she said. More than 2,600
organizations have registered for the conference, she said. Colombian president
Gustavo Petro is set to attend, while the presence of Dutch prime minister Rob
Jetten is still unclear. No naysayers The conference will not attempt to change
the minds of those who are skeptical about the transition away from fossil
fuels, but rather speak to a "coalition of the willing", Torres said. "This is a
conference for those who are already convinced and ready to work on solutions
for the transition," Duran added. While the US is unlikely to send federal
representatives — President Donald Trump has scaled down the US' climate action
plans and withdrawn from UNFCCC — the conference has sent an invitation for
California governor Gavin Newsom, Duran said. "Although the US' federal policies
are not aligned with the conference's principles, we know that some states have
played an important role [in climate discussions] and have learned lessons that
can be brought to the conference". By Lucas Parolin Send comments and request
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