The Santa Marta Fossil Fuel Phase-Out Conference

The First International Conference on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, held from 28 to 29 April 2026 in Santa Marta, co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands, brought together governments and relevant stakeholders, including global civil society, to advance international cooperation on planning fossil fuels phase out. In total nearly 60 countries accounting for around half of global GDP attended the gathering, billed as a complementary process to the slow, consensus-bound multilateral negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COPs (external link).  

Alongside this official process, the People's Summit held from 24 to 26 April 2026 resulted in the People's Declaration for a Rapid, Equitable, and Just Transition for a Fossil-Free Future, reflecting the demands of a coalition of nearly 1000 civil society organizations, frontline communities, social movements, Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendants, women, youth, and workers.   

What emerged from Santa Marta is not another iteration of the prevailing climate policy discourse. The People’s Summit and Declaration centre historical responsibility, climate debt, and reparations, and situate the transition within the longer trajectories of colonialism and structural inequality that have shaped both emissions and vulnerability. This shift did not happen in a vacuum. Through its advocacy and engagement, African Futures Lab actively contributed to positioning this framing, insisting on the recognition of colonialism, slavery, and racialised extraction as foundational drivers of the climate crisis, and on the need to address these roots as a precondition for any just transition. In doing so, the Summit challenged the continued framing of climate finance as discretionary support and repositioned it as an obligation. This matters because it signals a broader shift in how the transition is being articulated and contested.

Civil society in Santa Marta explicitly named the colonial roots of the climate crisis, framed reparations as a concrete obligation rather than an abstract demand, and directly linked climate justice to the legacies of slavery, dispossession, and racialized extraction – priorities that African Futures Lab has consistently advanced. The People’s Declaration captures both the importance and urgency of grounding fossil fuel phase-out in climate reparations. It reflects a growing consensus that without addressing these historical injustices, the transition risks reproducing the very systems it seeks to transform.

We applaud the fact that issues African Futures Lab and other African and Afro-descendant organizations have always underscored as urgent and non-negotiable are now clearly reflected in this declaration. In particular, the inclusion of calls to recognize the Transatlantic Slave Trade as the gravest crime against humanity, to deliver reparations to Afro-descendant communities, and to reject “green colonialism” and corporate capture. These critical concerns are now embedded within the broader climate justice agenda. The declaration therefore sharpens the link between climate action and legal responsibility and reinforces the need to confront the underlying systems that continue to drive both fossil fuel dependence and unequal vulnerability. 

African Futures Lab had the opportunity to participate in two online dialogues groups on Afrodescendents and NGOs to share our views on the importance of climate reparations in the context of the fossil fuel phase-out.

In this context, we advocated for mechanisms linking phase-out strategies with financial accountability and restorative justice through three key solutions.

• Climate reparations establish a formal legal framework recognizing reparations as a concrete obligation for historical emissions and colonial exploitation.
• A global fossil fuel extraction levy creates a mandatory contribution from production to provide consistent, predictable funding for loss and damage.
• The African just transition facility forms a polluter-funded mechanism to expand fiscal space for African countries so they can lead their own renewable energy transformations. 

African Futures Lab also submitted a written contribution on behalf of the African Climate Reparations Collective.

The submission responded to the conference’s three thematic pillars:

1. Reducing economic dependence on fossil fuels
2. Transforming fossil fuel supply and demand
3. Strengthening international cooperation and climate diplomacy

The submission identified three major barriers to a just transition.

First, climate-vulnerable countries continue to face deep financial constraints because the costs of climate harms are not being repaired. Loss and damage financing remains inadequate, and there is still no meaningful mechanism for reparative justice.

Second, international climate governance remains fragmented. Fossil fuel phase-out discussions are often separated from loss and damage, climate finance, and legal responsibility. This separation leaves countries and communities which contributed least to the climate crisis carrying the costs of transition.

Third, the transition risks reproducing extractive models. Without strong safeguards and accountability, renewable energy expansion, critical mineral extraction, and carbon market mechanisms can mirror older colonial patterns of resource extraction and dispossession. 

The People’s Declaration outlines 15 core principles demanding a systemic overhaul. It explicitly rejects false solutions like carbon capture and offsets. Instead, it calls for energy democracy, cancellation of illegitimate debts, and the recognition of climate reparations as a legal obligation.

Read the Full People’s Declaration here: https://fossilfreerising.org/declaration (external link) 

The declaration reflects a broader shift in how the transition is being articulated and contested. African Futures Lab is glad to have contributed to shaping this important narrative shift and will continue to advance this framing, ensuring that the outcomes of Santa Marta resonate across the global climate justice landscape. 

Participating countries agreed to continue the process, with a second international conference scheduled for early 2027 in Tuvalu (archipelagic country in the Pacific Ocean), co-hosted by Ireland.    

1. What defines the Santa Marta Climate Conference?

A coalition of the willing created this international initiative to develop actionable roadmaps for phasing out fossil fuels outside the traditional UNFCCC process.

2. Why did the organizers move outside the UNFCCC framework?

The conference addresses frustration with slow, consensus-based negotiations that struggle to achieve definitive agreements on fossil fuel phase-out.

3. What is the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty?

This proposal seeks binding international commitments to limit fossil fuel supply and fill critical gaps in global climate governance.

4. What is a limitation of this initiative?

The absence of major emitters like the US, China, and India impacts global effectiveness. However, the conference provides a vital platform for ambitious nations to set new standards for climate diplomacy.