Colombia’s Environment Minister Irene Velez and Netherlands’ Climate Minister Stientje van Veldhoven on stage during the International Conference on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia.
AFP via Getty Images
Up to now, international climate diplomacy has been shaped by the need to secure consensus across nearly 200 countries, making it difficult to move beyond high-level commitments. The Santa Marta conference reflected a different approach.
Co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands, the conference in April brought together over 50 countries representing a significant share of global energy demand and economic activity, alongside businesses, investors and civil society. The focus was not to negotiate new global commitments, but the financial, industrial and political conditions needed to deliver the transition away from fossil fuels.
Coalition of the willing
Recent geopolitical instability and renewed volatility in oil and gas markets have reinforced the risks of continued fossil fuel dependence. The coalition of willing nations at Santa Marta reflected a growing recognition that, for many governments, the question is increasingly how much economies want to remain exposed to political and security shocks originating far beyond their borders.
Most of the countries present were energy-importing economies seeking greater action at global and national levels to protect themselves from fossil fuel volatility. The fact these nations are becoming more organised around the practicalities of transition should be a clear indicator of how the energy status quo is changing.
“The vase is broken, the damage is done – it will be very difficult to put the pieces back together.”
Recently, International Energy Agency Executive Director Fatih Birol said of the fallout from the present Middle East crisis around the Strait of Hormuz that “the vase is broken, the damage is done – it will be very difficult to put the pieces back together. This will have permanent consequences for the global energy markets for years to come”.
But the transition debate is often framed too simply as a divide between climate ambition and economic interest, while the reality is more complicated. There are two sides that need attention: one is the growing group of countries and businesses accelerating toward cleaner energy systems; the other is made up of economies whose revenues, jobs and public finances remain deeply tied to fossil fuel production.
Fossil fuel producer nations need a roadmap too
A credible transition cannot ignore producer economies and communities facing structural economic change. The world needs practical pathways that help diversify economies, attract new industries and manage declining fossil fuel dependence without severe social disruption.
At the same time, demand-side economies – dependent on large fossil fuel imports – are accelerating action for reasons that extend beyond the original imperative of emissions reduction. Countries increasingly recognise that clean energy, electrification, storage and modern grids will shape the next generation of economic competitiveness, investment and manufacturing capacity.
Recent signals from across the energy system point in the same direction. The IEA has repeatedly argued that the global energy system is entering a new phase in which clean electricity, electrification and efficiency reshape underlying demand trends. Even without perfect global alignment, markets and investment decisions are already moving.
Business needs policy certainty to electrify
Business sees this clearly because companies often make decisions ahead of political cycles. They look at long-term energy costs, volatility, supply chain resilience and investment certainty. Increasingly, access to affordable clean electricity is becoming a factor in where companies choose to invest and set up operations. But markets alone will not deliver the energy shift at the required scale or speed.
Governments set direction, policy frameworks and market rules while business deploys capital, builds infrastructure and scales technologies. Progress depends on these two systems working together more effectively so there is alignment with how businesses actually invest, build and operate. Businesses can adapt to major industrial change when the direction of travel is clear. What slows investment is uncertainty, policy incoherence, reversals and fragmented market signals.
That was another important lesson from Santa Marta – the conference reflected a more implementation-focused relationship between policymakers and the private sector. Conversations increasingly turned toward the practical requirements of delivery, including financing, electrification infrastructure and affordability.
It was also clear from the conference the transition will only progress swiftly if consumers see clear benefits. In many countries, electricity still carries higher taxes and charges than fossil fuels, slowing the uptake of electric vehicles, heat pumps and industrial electrification. Aligning policy and market incentives matters.
In the middle of Santa Marta conference, France announced its fossil fuel transition roadmap, incorporating an electrification strategy that would benefit French businesses and households, as well as the wider economy. The concept of a roadmap away from fossil fuels that gained support at COP30 in Brazil and helped shape Santa Marta, gained its first example of a national template.
Cooperation is still valuable and still possible
Santa Marta also mattered for reasons beyond the energy transition itself. At a time when geopolitical tensions, trade disputes and rising nationalism are placing growing strain on the international system, the conference showed that countries are still prepared to work together around shared long-term interests. Stable economies and open markets depend on predictability, functioning institutions and cooperation between states. When those weaken, volatility spreads quickly through energy systems, supply chains, trade and investment.
The conference did not remove the fractures in the international order, but it showed that practical cooperation between governments, businesses and institutions remains possible even in a more fragmented world. That matters not only for climate and energy policy, but for the wider credibility of a rules-based international system at a moment when it is under increasing pressure.
This political momentum now needs to drive more regional and country electrification actions plans – based on national contexts and starting points – with infrastructure investment and market reforms capable of scaling deployment in the real economy.
Governments and businesses aligned on delivery, with consumers and economic resilience at the heart of joined-up thinking, can build a transition that is economically credible, socially workable and capable of delivering lower volatility, greater energy security and more stable costs.
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