More than 50 nations are attending a world-first conference on phasing out fossil fuels in Colombia next week as the Iran war underscores how dependent countries remain on planet-heating coal, oil, and gas.
Ministers arrive in the Caribbean city of Santa Marta against a backdrop of wartime fuel shortages, soaring prices, and a scramble for energy security in what the International Energy Agency has called the biggest oil supply shock ever.
The gathering was born out of frustration with consensus-based United Nations climate talks, where efforts to negotiate a fossil fuel exit strategy have stalled.
But organisers say the energy shock caused by Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the key transit point for Gulf oil and gas shipments, has strengthened the case for a fossil fuel phaseout, even as some countries look to coal in the short-term to secure supplies.
Concerns over energy security are expected to shape the high-level discussions over April 28 and 29 as much as climate priorities, analysts say.
The meeting was announced months ago but has taken on “greater relevance” with the energy crisis, said Colombia’s environment minister Irene Velez Torres, whose country is co-hosting with the Netherlands.
Major fossil fuel-producing nations Australia, Canada, and Norway are expected, along with developing oil giants Angola, Mexico, and Brazil, and coal-reliant emerging markets Turkey and Vietnam.
They will join dozens of other countries, from small-island developing states to major economies, Germany, France, and the UK.
However, the world’s biggest coal, oil, and gas producers — notably the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, and Russia — are skipping the event.
It will be closely watched for political signals from an emerging coalition of fossil fuel producers and consumers pushing for a phaseout outside the UN process.
Colombia — a coal and oil exporter — said the “strategically important” participating countries accounted for one-fifth of global fossil fuel production and nearly one-third of consumption.
Fossil fuel interests have been accused of influencing UN negotiations on climate change, and some governments and activists have questioned the involvement of producer nations in Santa Marta.
“The larger the group of countries, the more diffused the interests are and the less chance you’ve got of getting a sharp outcome,” climate scientist Bill Hare, founder of Climate Analytics think tank, told AFP.
Velez Torres said, however, it was a “major step forward” to have producer countries present tackling this “taboo”.
“We need to start a more honest space where we can discuss this more openly, and bring all cards to the table. Nobody is saying that the way to eliminating fossil fuels is easy. But we need to bring these people together,” she said.
For some, the conference’s appeal is partly its distance from the UN climate talks.
“I think the Santa Marta meeting is long overdue,” Maina Talia, climate minister of low-lying Tuvalu, told reporters.
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