A new climate world order is taking shape – without the Earth’s largest emitters.
A group of about 60 countries is meeting off the Colombian coast this week to figure out how to phase out fossil fuels, after three decades of UN-led talks have struggled to chart a clear path to combat climate change.
Several big emitters – the European Union, the United Kingdom and Brazil – will be there, as well as fossil fuel producers like Canada and Nigeria. It is also being joined by import-dependent countries like the Philippines and Pakistan, which are troubled by the impact of the Iran war on oil markets. But one thing that will make the conference in Colombia different is that it will not include countries that have historically tried to block climate action.
“It is extremely important that the Colombians and the Dutch and others have set this up, because we all see how bad the COP process is, how vulnerable it is to deniers and those who want to derail it,” EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told POLITICO. “What unites this group is the need to find an alternative. And if anything, the world events of the past six weeks have proven them right.”
The first conference of its kind, opening in the coastal city of Santa Marta on Friday, marks the beginning of a broader effort outside the annual climate talks known as the COP summit to accelerate the transition to solar, wind and other clean energy. It comes after efforts failed to ratify a global pledge to move away from oil, gas and coal at the COP30 talks in Brazil last year.
Organizers say the conference is for countries that are committed to clean energy, not those that deny climate change.
“We are not sad because America is not here,” Irene Vélez Torres, Colombia’s environment minister, said in an interview. “We knew they weren’t going to come here. We weren’t expecting them to come here because their energy policy and their economic policy is ‘drill, baby, drill.’ So this is not the place for them. Also, we didn’t want anyone to boycott our talks.”
The summit comes as the war in Iran has roiled global energy markets, and many countries have grown frustrated with the protracted pace of global climate talks. UN climate talks have struggled for years to get countries to act on their pledges.
This led to calls for coalitions of interested countries to move forward separately, even if that means not everyone comes together.
“After very little implementation in terms of COP 30 and fossil fuel phasing out, the conclusion is clear: it is inadequate,” Velez said. “This kind of conference is a new multilateralism. It is inspiring new paths and new cooperation and new ways of interaction.”
The United Nations must be ‘transformed’
The conference, co-organized by Colombia and the Netherlands, aims to identify concrete measures that countries can take to cut their dependence on fuels responsible for global warming.
The gathering will also include scientists, indigenous groups, NGOs and the private sector. It is expected that discussions will focus on ways in which nations can structure their changes rather than negotiating the necessity of them.
“There is a clear need for a platform where we can talk about the real steps, the nuts and bolts of the transition to more renewable energy,” said Bastian Hassing, head of international climate policy for the Netherlands, during a recent hearing with the European Parliament’s environment committee.
At climate talks in Brazil last year, a small group of fossil-fuel producing countries stalled deal On the road map to move away from fossil fuels. That’s regardless of countries agree Similar language in 2023.
Since then, some of those countries have reneged on that promiseAnd the United States has completely withdrawn from global climate efforts, with President Donald Trump continuing to rail against renewable energy.
still, more than 80 countries The idea of a transition to clean energy was endorsed at a summit held in Brazil last year.
Colombian officials say the Santa Marta summit could help advance that vision.
Velez said, “What we are saying today is that this process is complementary to the COP. It is not a substitute, we think the UN system is necessary. We think it has to change as well.”
hope for practicality
While the Iran war has redrawn the global energy map, countries are divided On whether they should accelerate the use of renewable energy or double the use of fossil fuels. And some of them are attending the conference, like mexico And Germany has expressed interest in increasing oil and gas production in the pursuit of energy security.
Some activists and diplomats say they are hoping for pragmatic discussions about what it would take to make a successful transition, while tackling fossil fuel subsidies and related issues such as investments in grid infrastructure and battery storage.
“We want to have a very open, honest conversation about what opportunities we have next,” Velez said.
The summit will not include the world’s largest producers and consumers of fossil fuels – the US and China – or other major oil economies such as India and Middle Eastern countries.
Several countries, including Canada and Germany, are sending senior officials but not top ministers. It is the same for Türkiye and Australia, the two countries co-hosting COP31 in Antalya.
“Canada appreciates the efforts of Colombia and the Netherlands to advance this dialogue through this conference and has a valuable perspective to share as a major fossil fuel producer that is and will remain committed to its obligations under the Paris Agreement,” Amélie Desmarais, spokeswoman for the Canadian Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, said in an email.
Australia’s Climate and Energy Minister Chris Bowen told reporters this week that he and Turkey’s Climate Minister Murat Kurum would examine the outcomes of the Colombia summit as they prepare for November’s climate talks.
‘Change is happening’
Colombia is a major coal and oil exporter, with the fossil fuel accounting for about 10 percent of GDP and 45 percent of total exports in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency.
At the same time, production is declining, and Colombian President Gustavo Petro has led the country toward a clean energy transition. In 2023, he announced an end to new contracts for oil, gas and coal exploration. Colombia also became the first Major fossil fuel producers will join the movement for a binding treaty to phase out those polluting forms of energy.
According to , between 2022 and 2024, the amount of solar and wind capacity installed in Colombia will increase from 1.5 percent to 9 percent of the total energy mix. Stockholm Environment Institute.
But Colombia has also increased its reliance on imported natural gas, which analysts say is causing price volatility.
“Colombia’s energy mix is in transition, but structural challenges – including declining domestic gas production, policy changes and hydropower variability – have made LNG imports essential,” Mariana Anjos, Latin America gas analyst for S&P Global, said in an email.
Velez said the country’s continued reliance on gas does not contradict its efforts to combat climate change.
“Change is happening, but it’s only happening because the policies are changing, and they’re not going to change from one day to the next,” he said, noting that the country aims to phase out gas use as quickly as possible.
Ahead of last year’s COP30 climate talks, Petro slammed Trump For his anti-climate stance and call for an economy free of oil and natural gas.
“Mr. Trump is against the human race,” Petro said.
Now the country is on the verge of elections. Elisa Arrond, a senior research fellow at the Stockholm Environment Institute in Bogotá, said Petro is not running because of constitutional term limits and despite its ambitious commitment to the energy and economic transition, Colombia is struggling with implementation.
“Some of these commitments are stuck. Many are highly contested,” he said. “The real question is … where will the next administration take these commitments.”
‘Accelerate this change’
Hosting a fossil fuel transition conference is not without risks.
Some countries want a binding treaty to stop and reverse fossil fuel expansion, while others think it should be voluntary. Those disagreements could lead to muddled messages from the conference, or divisions among nations about how to proceed on climate change.
There may be a perception that “we’re in the middle of a global crisis and there are all these people twiddling their thumbs on the beach in Colombia,” said an official from a developed nation, requesting anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. “Or we have a family feud about whether this is a treaty or not. I don’t think that’s helpful.”
Colombia and the Netherlands will prepare a report summarizing the discussions after the conference. A group of scientists is also launching an advisory panel to provide input on the energy transition.
COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago said there will be different pathways for different countries and regions, acknowledging that while Brazil is a champion of renewable energy, it has also become a major oil and gas producer.
“There’s a big debate going on in the country, and I think that’s what we think should be encouraged, which is the debate within countries, because everyone has to find their own way,” he said.
Activists hope that after the conference, individual countries can create their own road maps to move away from fossil fuels. Brazil, as part of its COP30 presidency, is working on a road map separate from the UN process that it plans to finalize later this year.
Dutch diplomat Hassing said one outcome could be for countries to work together to strengthen their transitions or to link up with financial institutions or businesses to attract investment.
“Hopefully this is the beginning of a longer process where we can come together in an environment where we don’t necessarily talk but talk about what we can do together to accelerate this change,” he said.
Zia Weiss and Camille von Kennel contributed reporting.
