First International Conference for Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels Will Convene April 28-29, Santa Marta, Colombia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 15, 2026
New York, NY– Representatives from the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) will be on-the-ground at the upcoming First International Conference for Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels 28–29 April 2026 in Santa Marta, Colombia, as well as the related Global Science and Policy Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels (April 24-25).
The conference, co-organized by Colombia and The Netherlands, aims to bring together countries that recognize the need for climate action to discuss pathways for a fossil fuel phase down. This is the first of a series of conferences that will develop a roadmap for this phase down.
GAIA and the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) are co-convening a group of experts to develop recommendations for the phase down of petrochemicals as part of the roadmap, to inform government discussions at the conference.
When developing strategies for a fossil fuel phase down, countries at Santa Marta cannot let petrochemicals fly under the radar. Petrochemicals are created from fossil fuels, and, and the IEA projects that the chemicals sector will increase energy demand by 2035 by more than any other industrial sector. Plastics alone are on track to take up a third of the global carbon budget by 2050. Without setting a target phase down for the petrochemical industry, world leaders will fatally undermine their own progress in reducing fossil fuel extraction and use.
The wars in the Middle East have also exposed the fragility of the fossil fuel/petrochemical supply chain prone to escalating conflicts, showing once again that relying on these industries is a risky business.
The development of this conference also signals that a critical mass of countries are willing to find common ground outside of the dysfunctional climate negotiations space. This could provide lessons for other multinational policy fora– particularly the plastics treaty talks, which have fallen prone to the same strategies that have stymied the climate talks, namely a small handful of fossil fuel-producing countries blocking meaningful action.
GAIA’s policy experts, (Ana Rocha, Global Plastics Policy Director and Dr. Neil Tangri, Science and Policy Director) will be at the conference, and are available for comment on this topic in the lead-up as well as during and after the proceedings.
Press contacts:
Claire Arkin, Global Communications Lead
claire@no-burn.org | +1 973 444 4869
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GAIA is a worldwide alliance of more than 1,000 grassroots groups, non-governmental organizations, and individuals in over 100 countries. With our work we aim to catalyze a global shift towards environmental justice by strengthening grassroots social movements that advance solutions to waste and pollution. We envision a just, zero waste world built on respect for ecological limits and community rights, where people are free from the burden of toxic pollution, and resources are sustainably conserved, not burned or dumped.