Highlights and images for 28 April 2026

Fossil fuels drive energy insecurity, economic vulnerability, and climate change. Speakers reframed fossil fuels as inefficient, wasteful, and even dangerous to start the first international conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels (TAFF 1). And the energy transition? Not only possible, but underway and inevitable, even if uneven and leaving some behind.

This conference takes place during an energy crisis. The urgency was palpable. Three-quarters of the global population relies on fossil fuel imports. They share a vulnerability to price shocks and fuel shortages despite living in very different economic and political systems. The energy transition promises reliable, affordable energy. That is the dream many here spoke of: a just, systems-wide transition.

But many recognized the transition needs active management and cooperation. Technologies are available and cost-competitive. But, while Africa boasts 60% of the world’s solar potential and 30% of critical minerals, the continent only attracts 2% of global clean energy investments. Advanced economies and China lead the way, while others are missing out.

Many stressed that the solutions cannot just be technological. Cooperation between producers and consumers of fossil fuels can help realign capital and energy markets. Debt forgiveness can help create fiscal headroom for countries to act. Upholding rights and land sovereignty can empower communities to protect nature.

Colombia's President Gustavo Petro provided the gravitas of a head of state to the conference, putting its aims in the context of geopolitical fault lines, climate impacts, and the foreign exchange countries gain from fossil fuel exports.

The format gave Indigenous Peoples, civil society, scientists, and diplomats the ability to speak directly to one another, leading to a range of suggested concrete solutions. Some prioritized national action, such as transition roadmaps, that could complement or contribute to the Paris Agreement. Others called for a new treaty on phasing out fossil fuels. Other ideas included establishing fossil-free exclusion zones to protect nature, ending fossil fuel subsidies, and exiting investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) clauses that allow companies to sue countries for taking climate action.

Breakout sessions focused on key challenges slowing the transition and opportunities to accelerate it. Some directly addressed the planned phase down and closure of fossil fuel extraction, tracing the infrastructure, reclamation, and policy frameworks challenges.

Economics and politics go hand-in-hand. Breakout sessions considered how to help countries wean their budgets from the tax and other revenues of the fossil fuel industries, while participants in another session focused on reducing government support to these industries in the form of subsidies. There was a strong call for countries to create inventories to track the types and beneficiaries of these subsidies, noting that some might be necessary to support those most vulnerable to energy price shocks.

A just transition requires equity among and within countries. A breakout session on economic and labor transitions put government ministers in dialogue with coal workers. The session discussed experiences with planning and policies to “protect workers, not jobs.” Echoing this discussion, the energy access breakout group stressed the local level and need for inclusion.

The climate diplomacy breakout session surveyed the landscape of binding treaties and coalition-based initiatives to try to determine where this process could fit.