Joint press release by the EU member states participating in the meeting
European Countries Support the Santa Marta First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels
The European countries participating in Santa Marta express their strong support for the Santa Marta First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels and appreciate the leadership as shown by Colombia and the Netherlands. Santa Marta establishes an action-oriented platform to scale up work and to elevate energy transition. This is critical for addressing the climate emergency.
We stand ready to build broad and inclusive coalitions that bring together partners from developed and developing countries, academia, cities, the private sector, Indigenous Peoples, local communities, parliamentarians and civil society. This should accelerate progress and deliver strong results.
Santa Marta shows that effective solutions already exist and need to be scaled up and be elevated on the multilateral climate agenda. Santa Marta showed a richness of experiences on improving access to clean energy, on transitioning away from fossil fuel, on the use of economic instruments, including credible and just fossil fuel subsidy reform, on fuel switching and on labor conversion. Upscaling will require strengthening international cooperation and international investments. Proven practices, national roadmaps, shared experiences and mature, affordable technologies can drive the transition forward while strengthening economic resilience, energy autonomy and quality of life and bringing prices down. The transition must be socially fair and create quality jobs. A just transition is a prerequisite for success.
Climate and energy action as drivers of prosperity and security
We emphasize that the climate and energy agenda is intrinsically linked to competitiveness, prosperity, public health, social cohesion, energy sovereignty and security.
In the 21st century, security is defined by climate resilience, energy sustainability and economic autonomy. Accelerating climate action, advancing the energy transition, strengthening competitiveness and energy security are mutually reinforcing objectives. Fossil fuel dependency creates vulnerability and transitioning away from them can shield the economy and the population from the ripple effects of conflict, instability and volatility. The transition away from fossil fuels reduces vulnerabilities.
We see energy transition as a major opportunity for local communities, with the potential to generate jobs, promote social justice and foster sustainable prosperity.
Strengthening multilateralism and advancing COP implementation
Multilateralism is indispensable in addressing a global crisis that transcends borders. This needs to be science driven and build on the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Following the commitment made at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels in a just, orderly and equitable manner, there is now an urgent need to move from commitments to implementation and to step up international cooperation. The scientific panel on the Global Energy Transition (SPGET) launched in Santa Marta will help accelerate coordinated action to move away from fossil fuels, aligned with the IPCC.
The Santa Marta Conference can amplify ongoing international efforts, including the COP30 Presidency roadmap. It also sends a strong signal to businesses, financial institutions, and multilateral development banks to invest in energy transition.
The approach on transitioning away from fossil fuels, as launched in Santa Marta, will help ensure greater alignment, increased ambition and enhanced collective capacity in the lead-up to upcoming UN Climate Conferences and facilitate stronger and broader action.
The EU Member States participating in the first meeting in Santa Marta were: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden. The European Commission was also present.
Inquiries
Marjo Nummelin (available starting May 4)
Chief Negotiator for Climate Change in Finland
tel. +358 295 250 227
[email protected]