A coalition meeting in Santa Marta seeks practical roadmaps to phase out fossil fuels, including exports and finance reforms.
A coal-port summit in Colombia is trying to turn climate pledges into something more concrete: a transition away from fossil fuels.
Misryoum reports that when countries met at COP30 in Brazil, hopes were high for a stronger roadmap.. But objections from major oil and gas producers prevented even basic wording around phasing out fossil fuels.. In response. Colombia and the Netherlands convened a different kind of gathering this week in Santa Marta. inviting 57 countries to focus specifically on how to accelerate the shift away from coal. oil and gas.
The meeting brought together both climate-focused governments and large fossil fuel exporters. including the European Union and the UK as well as countries such as Canada. Nigeria and Norway.. Its aim, Misryoum notes, is less about debating whether the problem exists and more about how to implement a phase-out.
Insight: This is a key shift in strategy. Instead of waiting for global consensus, the summit is trying to move forward through voluntary national plans that can be built, tested and refined.
Still. the conference faces a familiar challenge: energy demand is rising. and while low-carbon electricity has expanded. it has often supplemented demand rather than replacing fossil fuel use.. Misryoum reports that participants are working on national roadmaps ahead of a follow-up meeting next year hosted by Tuvalu. with additional preparation planned in Ireland.
A notable feature of the roadmaps is that they are intended to consider not only the fossil fuels a country consumes domestically. but also those it exports.. Misryoum says that export emissions are frequently left out of standard climate target frameworks. even though they can shape global impacts.. In this context. academics at the summit unveiled a Colombia-focused plan that they say would cut energy-related emissions dramatically by mid-century. and present long-term economic benefits.
Meanwhile, Misryoum reports that France became the first high-income country to publish such a fossil fuel exit roadmap.. The approach highlights a mix of transport and building measures, alongside scaling up low-carbon electricity sources and technologies.. Importantly. it sets out timelines for ending coal use by 2030. oil by 2045 and gas by 2050. contrasting with the more common net-zero framing that can rely on offsets or technologies like carbon capture.
Insight: Roadmaps that include dates for ending different fuels may change the policy conversation from vague targets to operational deadlines, making progress easier to track.
The summit’s agenda also reaches beyond power generation to the financial incentives that keep fossil fuels competitive.. Misryoum reports discussions include efforts to reduce preferences such as fossil fuel subsidies and to address how debt pressures can steer low-income countries toward new drilling rather than investing in capital-intensive renewables.. Yet some analysts warn that a roadmap may not be enough if fossil fuel buyers still have incentives to continue purchasing oil and gas.
As the conference’s value is ultimately measured by whether its ambition can feed into the broader negotiations at COP31. Misryoum says the question is how far this coalition model can go.. For organizers and participants. the goal is to go beyond preaching to the converted and instead build a framework that brings more countries. including fossil fuel exporters. into the same implementation-focused discussion.
Insight: If the summit can translate voluntary roadmaps into shared expectations and practical policy changes, it could narrow the gap between climate plans and the real-world steps needed to phase down fossil fuels.