Photo by Neha Gautam
For the first time in history, government representatives will convene next week for action-oriented dialogues focused not on whether we should transition away from fossil fuels, but on how.
Countries are attending as part of a “coalition of the willing,” with a firm commitment to lay out a roadmap for enabling a just transition away from fossil fuels by:
The Santa Marta Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels Conference, hosted by the governments of Colombia and the Netherlands, comes at a time when the links between a fossil-fueled economy and destruction, war, and genocide have never been clearer.
Just in the last month, we have seen imperialist aggression rear its ugly head in a bombardment of new violence, from the horrific unilateral U.S. attacks on Iranian people, infrastructure, and sovereignty; the assault on Lebanon; and the continued U.S.-backed genocide of Palestine and full-fledged onslaught of Gaza, to the ongoing genocide in Sudan. Imperialist violence is the first barrier to a just transition that must fall.
Transitioning away from fossil fuels means dismantling the systems of militarism and domination that sustain them. It means confronting the fact that the fossil fuel industry entrenches global inequality, props up leaders who perpetuate petromasculinity, and diverts public resources away from the public good. Meanwhile, it is women, gender-diverse people, Indigenous and Afro-descendent communities, and people across the Global South, who pay the price. We need economies of care and not economies of war. The full cost of fossil fuels, emissions, lives, and well-being, is not one we can accept for one day longer.
The potential at Santa Marta offers a critical opening, but whether it will lead to meaningful change remains to be seen. This moment demands more than incremental change and mere dialogues with weak commitments. It calls for a bold, collective abandonment of the systems that tie energy systems to extraction, exploitation, and violence. We know we can never catalyze a just transition amidst competition and conflict. Intersecting crises demand collectivity. While the conference presents countries with an opportunity to confront this reality head-on and to reclaim international cooperation as a tool for peace, accountability, and transformation, its true impact will depend on whether its ambitions translate into action
Santa Marta has the potential for true dialogue among representatives from across civil society - feminists, Indigenous Peoples, Afrodescendant communities, farmers and fisherfolk, labor and social movements - to shape a gender-just transition for all. The opportunity for radical collaboration on lessons learned, best practices, and a roadmap for action exists, and can shape just transition conversations at all levels, including the globally mandated Bélem Action Mechanism (BAM). We already have the solutions and this conference could be a springboard to advance them, only if the participants are willing to move beyond rhetoric.
All over the world, women and gender justice activists and land defenders on the frontlines continue to resist resource extraction and fossil fuel infrastructure projects. They march in the streets for policy change and implement gender-just climate solutions that reimagine new models of energy and the economy for people and planet. They are spearheading community-owned, decentralized, and democratized renewable energy solutions at a local level.
With an understanding that fossil fuels are harming our bodies, our communities, and our future, ending the era of fossil fuels is a gender-just climate solution.
The WEDO team will be represented at the conference by:
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