acf domain was triggered too early. This is usually an indicator for some code in the plugin or theme running too early. Translations should be loaded at the init action or later. Please see Debugging in WordPress for more information. (This message was added in version 6.7.0.) in /home/ecg/ecgassociationdev/wp-includes/functions.php on line 6121Clean Energy Wire — 2026-06-30
Automotive Industry
The government and observers from Germany welcomed that the first-ever conference on the move away from fossil fuels in Colombia provided the right space for a large group of countries to discuss how to advance the transition.
“The conference in Santa Marta marks a milestone,” said German state secretary Jochen Flasbarth. “For the first time, more than 50 countries from every region of the world have come together on such a scale and with such intensity to discuss concrete steps towards phasing out oil, gas and coal and to share their experiences closely,” he said.
“I am quite sure: the transition away from fossil fuels is unstoppable,” Flasbarth told Clean Energy Wire.
As global efforts to transition away from fossil fuels continue to stall in formal UN climate negotiations, ministers and officials at the first Conference on Transitioning away from Fossil Fuels emphasised electrification and renewables as the key to resilience and climate action. The summit in Santa Marta represented a key milestone in this year’s international climate agenda, seven months ahead of the UN climate change conference COP31 in Antalya, Turkey.
As intended, the meeting ended without a formal negotiated outcome. However, co-hosts Colombia and the Netherlands identified five key outcomes of the conference:
Researcher Pao-Yu Oei of the University of Flensburg said that the format of a ‘coalition of the willing’, open exclusively to states that have already recognised the need to phase out fossil fuels, “facilitates constructive discussions on solutions that have been blocked for decades in consensus-based UN processes by fossil fuel lobbyists and their government advocates.”
Major economies critical of efforts to phase out fossil fuels, such as the US, Russia and China, were not invited to the summit in Colombia.
State secretary Flasbarth said participants in Santa Marta widely supported including further countries, but emphasised that obstructors would not stand a chance. “Whoever comes to a conference like this one with the intention to block progress, will fail,” the official told Clean Energy Wire after the closing plenary. “We are not deciding anything here, but we are seeking a way forward. A non-constructive attitude would not be welcome here.”