57 Countries Agree Fossil Fuel Phase-Down Roadmap With 2027 Review

A coalition of 57 countries representing roughly one-third of global GDP agreed at the first global Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels conference in Santa Marta, Colombia on an action-oriented implementation roadmap backed by three formal workstreams. A second conference will be co-hosted by Tuvalu and Ireland in 2027 to review progress, establishing the first formal review cycle for fossil fuel phase-down commitments.

The Santa Marta conference, co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands between 24 and 29 April 2026, shifted focus from target-setting to execution. Participants acknowledged that annual global energy transition investments reached a record US$2.4 trillion in 2024, more than double 2019 levels, yet fossil fuels still account for over 75 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Three implementation workstreams were launched covering science-based transition roadmaps aligned with Nationally Determined Contributions, finance and macroeconomic reform including debt-for-climate swaps, and producer-consumer alignment to manage a planned decline in extraction.

The conference framed fossil fuel transition as a broad economic transformation requiring changes to fiscal systems, trade structures and labour markets rather than a purely technological switch. Geopolitical disruptions, including tensions in the Strait of Hormuz through which nearly one-fifth of the world's oil supply flows, reinforced the vulnerability of fossil fuel-dependent energy systems for the 75 per cent of countries that remain net importers. Global fossil fuel subsidies totalling US$7.63 trillion were identified as the single largest barrier requiring systematic reform.

Conference outcomes will feed into the COP30 Presidency roadmap and the second Global Stocktake under the Paris Agreement. A Science Panel for the Global Energy Transition was launched to provide evidence-based pathways aligned with the 1.5°C target. Participants called for stronger multilateral coordination, expanded concessional finance and non-debt-creating finance for developing countries, and just transition strategies protecting workers and local economies. The Santa Marta meeting was convened after the COP30 final text omitted references to fossil fuels, prompting the coalition to establish a standalone platform.

Key figure — US$2.4 trillion global energy transition investment in 2024