Colombia Hosts Santa Marta Conference to Phase Out Fossil Fuels Before COP31 in Antalya

Colombia hosted the first conference on phasing out fossil fuels in Santa Marta from April 24 to 29, 2026, with about fifty states participating, and the meeting ended “on a lukewarm note” with “no binding decision” but a “formal message” to the rest of the world.

The conference was framed as a way to bypass paralysis in UN climate talks, with Ouest-France describing the effort as a coalition of states determined to move forward before COP31 in November in Antalya, Turkey.

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European Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said in Santa Marta, “In Europe, we lose half a billion euros every day this war lasts,” and he added that the transition now also rests on “commercial and independence reasons.”

RTL Info reported that the argument shifted in Colombia from saving the climate to protecting consumers against energy shortages, with Hoekstra telling the meeting that “We already had a very good reason to act for the climate” and now “another one, for commercial and independence reasons.”

Ahead of the Santa Marta process, Colombia faced a lawsuit from Termocandelaria Power, a Spain-based firm operating two diesel- and gas-fired power plants, which sued the government for $198 million one day before the conference.

Climate Home News said Termocandelaria alleged a breach of investor protection rules under a bilateral agreement after government measures since 2024 prevented its Colombian subsidiaries from receiving full payment for power supplied to a public utility.

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In response, the Veblen Institute’s note argued that removing protection afforded to investments in fossil fuels is “an essential prerequisite” so taxpayers do not have to compensate fossil fuel investors for public policies aimed at eliminating fossil fuels and managing stranded assets.

The same Climate Home News report quoted Mario Osorio, a research fellow at the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), saying Termocandelaria’s claim “puts in perspective how serious, concrete and real these threats are” for developing countries.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro pledged to exit the ISDS system by reviewing Colombia’s 129 investment protection agreements, after more than 200 economists and scholars sent Petro an open letter urging Colombia to abandon the ISDS system.

The Veblen Institute said the removal of fossil-fuel investment protection “does not pre-empt the trajectory or pace of the exit from fossil fuels,” which it said can vary by country depending on development and dependence on fossil fuels.

Climate Home News reported that researchers recommended governments “recognise” ISDS as a barrier to the energy transition and called for negotiations to dismantle ISDS protection for fossil fuel investments through “a new standalone” international agreement or as part of a broader treaty.

The report also said the second fossil fuel transition conference is to be held next year in Tuvalu, presenting an opportunity for advancing ISDS reform from discussion to “something more concrete,” while Eunjung Lee of E3G said the Santa Marta conference helped elevate ISDS reform as a key element of the transition.