<\/p>\n
Stientje van Veldhoven, Minister of Climate Policy and Green Growth of the Netherlands, right, embraces Colombia’s Environmental Minister Irene V\u00e9lez Torres during a conference aimed at transitioning away from fossil fuels Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Santa Marta, Colombia.<\/p>\n
Ivan Valencia\/AP<\/p>\n
Activists participate in a pro-oil demonstration and against President Gustavo Petro, of Colombia, outside of a conference aimed at transitioning away from fossil fuels Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Santa Marta, Colombia.<\/p>\n
Ivan Valencia\/AP<\/p>\n
Attendees listen during a plenary session at a conference aimed at transitioning away from fossil fuels Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Santa Marta, Colombia.<\/p>\n
Ivan Valencia\/AP<\/p>\n
Yuvelis Morales Blanco, a 2026 Goldman Environmental Prize winner, speaks during a conference aimed at transitioning away from fossil fuels Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Santa Marta, Colombia.<\/p>\n
Ivan Valencia\/AP<\/p>\n
Security personnel work outside of a conference aimed at transitioning away from fossil fuels Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Santa Marta, Colombia.<\/p>\n
Ivan Valencia\/AP<\/p>\n
President Gustavo Petro, of Colombia, speaks as Colombia’s Environment Minister Irene V\u00e9lez Torres, right, listens, during a conference aimed at transitioning away from fossil fuels Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Santa Marta, Colombia.<\/p>\n
Ivan Valencia\/AP<\/p>\n
President Gustavo Petro, of Colombia, speaks during a conference aimed at transitioning away from fossil fuels Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Santa Marta, Colombia.<\/p>\n
Ivan Valencia\/AP<\/p>\n
Members of the Indigenous Arhuaco community perform during a conference aimed at transitioning away from fossil fuels Tuesday, April 28, 2026, in Santa Marta, Colombia.<\/p>\n
Ivan Valencia\/AP<\/p>\n
SANTA MARTA, Colombia (AP) \u2014 High-level talks to accelerate the shift from fossil fuels got underway Tuesday in Colombia\u2019s Caribbean city of Santa Marta, where President Gustavo Petro warned the world could \u201creach a point of no return\u201d without the Amazon\u2019s role in regulating the climate.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The two-day segment of ministers and senior officials marks the political centerpiece of the First Conference on Transitioning away from Fossil Fuels, where more than 50 countries have been discussing how to move away from oil, gas and coal \u2014 the main drivers of global warming \u2014 toward cleaner energy.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
\u201cThe conclusion is unavoidable, we must transition away from fossil fuels \u2014 not just because it\u2019s good for climate, but because it strengthens our energy independence and security,\u201d said Stientje van Veldhoven, minister for climate policy and green growth for the Netherlands, which is co-hosting the conference with Colombia.<\/p>\n
The meeting reflects growing frustration among some governments and advocates that decades of U.N. climate negotiations have failed to directly address fossil fuel production, prompting the Santa Marta summit to push the issue outside formal talks. Recent negotiations have acknowledged the need for a transition, but countries remain divided over how to implement it and how to finance the shift.<\/p>\n
Before the president took the stage, members of the Indigenous Arhuaco community from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta \u2014 who have long defended their ancestral lands from outside development \u2014 opened the ceremony with a traditional harmonization ritual, a spiritual ceremony in which they spoke in their native language and played ancestral instruments.<\/p>\n
Colombian president warns Amazon at tipping point <\/p>\n
Speaking in the afternoon, President Petro warned that \u201cthe Amazon rainforest is burning,\u201d adding that \u201cwithout it we reach a point of no return.\u201d<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
The leftist leader questioned the global economic model underpinning fossil fuel use, asking whether \u201ccapitalism can really adapt to a way of life that is not fossil-based.\u201d He said U.N. climate talks have fallen short, arguing that \u201cthe unity of states has failed\u201d and calling for broader action beyond governments.<\/p>\n
Petro also linked current conflicts to energy dependence, saying \u201cthe wars we are seeing are driven by desperate geopolitical strategies around fossil resources.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colombia’s Environment Minister Irene V\u00e9lez Torres said in opening comments before Petro’s address that the conflict in the Middle East has revealed that \u201cwe are not only dealing with a climate and environmental crisis, but also an economic and national security crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Petro has positioned Colombia as a leading voice calling for a global shift away from fossil fuels, while pushing for a gradual transition at home that balances climate goals with economic realities.<\/p>\n
A key moment for international cooperation<\/p>\n
Outside the conference venue in the morning, members of a mining union protested against Petro and the event, chanting through megaphones and holding signs that read: \u201cI arrive at the conference by plane to criticize the oil industry,\u201d \u201cMore oil, less Petro,\u201d and \u201cDefend your oil barrels.\u201d<\/p>\n
With elections in a month’s time, outgoing Petro kept his pledge since taking office to halt new oil and gas exploration and steer the country toward a post-fossil fuel economy, even as the Andean nation remains heavily dependent on oil and coal exports.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Minister V\u00e9lez Torres framed the gathering as a key moment for international cooperation.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet this conference be the moment when ambition becomes solidarity and when cooperation becomes the path toward a future beyond fossil fuels,\u201d she said on Tuesday morning. \u201cLet\u2019s make this a turning point in history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yuvelis Morales Blanco, a 25-year-old activist from Puerto Wilches, Colombia, spoke at the opening plenary and called for urgent action and a transition rooted in communities.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are called to make real the world we have imagined,\u201d she said, urging governments to take \u201cdirect and concrete actions\u201d to move away from fossil fuels and protect nature. \u201cWe demand energy justice, climate justice and justice for youth and children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
Discussions in Santa Marta so far have highlighted the central challenge of funding the transition, particularly for developing countries facing high borrowing costs and limited access to capital.<\/p>\n
Van Veldhoven of the Netherlands said access to affordable financing would be critical to ensuring the transition can happen globally, particularly for developing countries facing high debt and limited fiscal space.<\/p>\n
Participants have also debated the role of policy tools such as carbon markets and government subsidies, as well as how to ensure the transition does not repeat patterns of land use and resource exploitation that have harmed communities in the past.<\/p>\n
Organizers say the conference will not produce binding agreements, but that it is intended to build political momentum and bring together countries willing to accelerate the transition outside the formal U.N. process. It is also seen as a steppingstone toward upcoming global climate negotiations, where financing and timelines for reducing fossil fuel use are expected to remain key points of debate.<\/p>\n
Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n
On Monday, Tuvalu, a tiny, low-lying Polynesian island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, announced it will host the next conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels. Small island nations are highly susceptible to climate change, with Tuvalu expected to be submerged by 2100 due to rising sea levels, according to scientists and the U.N.<\/p>\n
The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stientje van Veldhoven, Minister of Climate Policy and Green Growth of the Netherlands, right, embraces Colombia’s Environmental Minister…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13638,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[389,8119,363,8118,2317,2314,95],"class_list":{"0":"post-13637","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-valencia","8":"tag-colombia","9":"tag-colombia-fossil-fuels-conference-santa-marta-gustavo-petro","10":"tag-gustavo-petro","11":"tag-irene-velez-torres","12":"tag-package-100373-mc-complete-state-national","13":"tag-product-30598-ap-national-news-report-a-wire","14":"tag-valencia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13637","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13637"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13637\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13638"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}