The first Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels was held April 24-29 in Santa Marta, Colombia. 57 nations have signed up to the project of working together to transition away from fossil fuels, in line with the Paris Agreement and the imperatives of climate disruption and related risks and impacts.

Those 57 nations represent about 1/3 of the global economy, and they are moving ahead with the transition to a future of distributed, renewable, non-polluting energy systems. Some are doing so, because they see opportunity to gain independence from costly fuel imports, some to advance the climate resilient development, because they are highly vulnerable to sea-level rise or extreme heat.

All of them are aware of the benefits to human health and wellbeing from eliminating pollution and preventing the countless health impacts and costs, related to pollution. They are also aware that future fiscal stability might depend on eliminating both climate impact risk and liability associated with materially promoting polluting practices.

Last year, the International Court of Justice issued an Advisory Opinion finding that national governments have an obligation to work to prevent harm to their people from industrial climate disruption. The opinion was historic and provides a basis for courts in all nations, at all levels of jurisdiction, to interpret foundational international law and judicial precedent from other areas of law.

The Court found:

• Climate protection and a healthy, clean environment are implicit in all other human rights.
• Duty to act includes a duty to cooperate, and is grounded in treaties and in customary international law.
• Failing to act to reduce climate risk can constitute an “international legally wrongful act”.

There are many reasons the Advisory Opinion was issued—not least of which is the fact that basic science has long made clear the heat-trapping properties of carbon-based compounds, like those associated with the extraction, refining, transport, and burning of combustible fuels. National governments cannot lawfully ignore known serious harm, let alone treat the practices that cause it as a profit center.

It was clear from scientific observations in the 1980s that global heating had already begun, so the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was established, and in 1992, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was agreed. Industrialized nations agreed to restrict total national emissions to 1990 levels by the year 2000, to “prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system”.

In the 33 years since, global emissions have never declined—except during the worldwide economic shutdowns of 2020, during the first stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. That record of inaction is seen by people in countries around the world as a moral and strategic failure of their governments, of industry, and of international negotiations.

The 2024 Reinventing Prosperity Report on Priorities for a Livable Future brought together insights from stakeholders in 23 nations. Those guiding insights included:

• Climate change impacts—and related costs—are piling up. 
• Human dignity is linked to sustainable investment. 
• Unsustainable investment is waste. 
• 1.5ºC is just a start; true climate resilience will require progress toward a standard of zero harm to people and Nature.
• New kinds of destabilization are on the horizon.
• Planetary boundaries are security measures.
• Valuing Nature, health, and safety, can expand wealth for everyone.

Cooperative problem-solving is essential. Respondents noted that we are already in a deficit situation, with regard to climate stabilization and climate-resilient development. A consistent insight was the need for nations to work together to innovate, to improve enabling environments, to support investment flowing to better practices that foster environmental sustainability, inclusive integral human development, social and economic justice, and shared prosperity that consistently respects human rights.

57 nations have recognized the duty to act and the duty to cooperate. The first scientific commission for the global energy transition was created and announced on April 25. The Co-Chairs of the Conference, from Colombia and the Netherlands, reported:

Over the past five days in Santa Marta, Colombia and The Netherlands convened 57 countries in support of the commitments made under the Paris Agreement. Together with – and informed by – representatives from subnational governments, academia, social movements, NGOs, trade unions, parliamentarians, the private sector, multilateral development banks, Indigenous Peoples, peoples of African
descent, peasants, children and youth, and women and diversities, they created a safe space for dialogue on how countries transition away from fossil fuels.

The participating countries did not aim to establish new goals, but to develop plans for the optimal implementation of existing ones. Their deliberations focused primarily on challenges related to reducing economic dependence on fossil fuels, transforming supply and demand, and advancing international cooperation.

The model advanced by the 57 nations joining the Santa Marta Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels was envisioned in the Paris Agreement, in paragraph 8 of Article 6, which calls for multidimensional climate cooperation among groups of 2 or more countries, to advance sustainable development and poverty eradication, while decarbonizing and building resilience, with support from the private sector and the mainstream economy.

Voluntary cooperation for a best-case climate future is underway. All nations should take a hard look at how they can join the race to climate-safe prosperity.