from TheTimeKnife@lemmy.world to world@lemmy.world on 29 Apr 23:52
https://lemmy.world/post/46223625
It could be described as the “challenge of the century”. Energy ministers from some 50 countries are gathering for a two-day summit from April 28-29 in the city of Santa Marta, at the foot of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada mountain range, to address the crucial question of how to move away from fossil fuels – the main drivers of global warming – once and for all. Organised by Bogota, the summit was prompted by a sobering realisation: when it comes to tackling gas, oil and coal production, the major UN COP meetings are no longer enough. This became clear at the conclusion of COP28 in Dubai in 2023 after a landmark decision to adopt the convention’s final text mentioned the need to begin to “transition away from fossil fuels”. But negotiations have stalled since then. Consensus has been thwarted with discussions systematically blocked by the major oil and gas-producing countries. However, the Santa Marta conference may well break the deadlock in climate diplomacy. The question is no longer whether or not fossil fuels should be phased out but rather how the most ambitious countries wrestling with the challenges of climate change can achieve concrete solutions.
It is no coincidence that Colombia is hosting this unprecedented summit. In the small world of oil-producing nations, Gustavo Petro, the country’s first left-wing president, stands out as somewhat of an outsider. Since his inauguration in August 2022, he has consistently criticised the devastating “addiction” to oil that is harming the planet and pledged to transform Colombia, Latin America’s fourth-largest oil exporter, into an economy “free of oil and coal”.
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