Highlights and images for 29 April 2026

A global energy transition is underway. The question at the first international conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels (TAFF 1) is whether it will be proactively managed, or if countries and communities will face the brunt of rapid economic changes on their own.

This conference aims to turn a coalition of the willing to a coalition of the doers. It’s about acting together in the face of economic and political barriers and amid the current energy crisis. Many reflected on the positive spirit and constructive dialogues. Ministers could speak openly on issues never uttered in other climate multilateral forums, from how to wean government budgets from fossil fuel tax revenues to trying to bring clean energy to rural areas far from electrical grids.

The conference sought to plant roots, growing a new process that could enable concrete actions to justly end the fossil fuel era. Science will have a central role: a new science-policy panel, called the Global Energy Transition Panel, will bring scientific expertise to the questions raised by this coalition. While originally envisioned to help map transition pathways, there were calls to include Indigenous and diverse knowledge systems.

Delegates adopted three workstreams to organize efforts before the next conference in 2027:

1. Designing roadmaps to transition away from fossil fuels that will also address supply side issues, because there is a lack of clear commitments on reducing emissions exported from producing countries. These roadmaps could also be regional, potentially including fossil fuel free zones. This work will be supported by the NDC Partnership and Global Energy Transition Panel.
2. Addressing macroeconomic dependencies and financial architecture, especially the fiscal, debt, and subsidy traps, to innovate a financial system that can support the transition. The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and Centre for Economic Policy and Research (CEPR) will support.
3. Building fossil fuel free trade systems by understanding how trade continues to promote extraction and how to replace this with green trade. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) will support.

Some left disappointed that the conference did not start a process to negotiate a new fossil fuel treaty. But there were worries that producer countries might not engage, even if they are willing to phase down fossil fuels, in a treaty negotiation context. Others wanted to avoid the “toxic dynamics” that might come with treaty talks and are already evident in other forums.

In stark contrast, many celebrated the spirit that created a safe space, “not to convince each other but to learn.” Announcing the next TAFF conference, co-hosts Tuvalu and Ireland promised to continue to foster openness and willingness to work together as they cooperate to address the “problems we’ve named together” in Santa Marta. Beyond a willingness, the outgoing and incoming co-hosts stressed that success will be found in the actions that the coalition of doers take in the coming year.