Climate Politics
Countries Draw Up Next Steps to Decarbonize at Colombia Fossil-Fuel Summit
The conference in Santa Marta ended on an optimistic note, with plans for a second meeting in 2027.
A worker carries a chair ahead of the Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia, on April 27.
Photographer: Raul Arboleda/AFP/Getty ImagesA first-of-its-kind global summit on shifting from fossil fuels ended Wednesday on an optimistic note, with the launch of new “workstreams” to help countries phase out oil, gas and coal and plans for a second meeting next year.
“This may be the first multilateral meeting that I find not frustrating,” Colombian Environment Minister Irene Vélez Torres said in the final plenary, to laughter from the audience. “It has been very inspiring.”