26 APRIL 2026, SANTA MARTA, COLOMBIA – As more than 50 countries prepare to gather  for the First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, co-organized by the governments of Colombia and the Netherlands, a powerful global coalition of civil society organizations, frontline communities, Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendants, women, youth, and workers today officially launched the People’s Declaration for a Rapid, Equitable, and Just Transition for a Fossil-Free Future. 

Launched from the coal-exporting port of Santa Marta, the Declaration serves as a definitive blueprint for a just transition grounded in human rights, energy democracy, and climate justice. Forged over months of collective dialogue, the People’s Declaration unifies diverse global demands into a cohesive vision, asserting that the era of negotiation has passed and the era of implementation must begin.

The Declaration frames the climate crisis as a direct consequence of a global system rooted in capitalism, colonialism, and militarism, explicitly linking fossil fuel dependence to geopolitical aggression. It issues an urgent call to governments to recognize the massive ecological debt owed by the Global North to the Global South. 

The coalition demands that the upcoming "coalition of the willing" commit to concrete binding mechanisms for a fast, fair, and funded fossil fuel phaseout—one that rejects false solutions and delivers unconditional, non-debt-creating public finance and full reparations essential for the survival of communities and the planet.

Lidy Nacpil, coordinator, Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD), stated: “The eyes of the world are on Santa Marta this week. We are here to remind governments that a just transition is a matter of survival for our communities, requiring massive public climate finance and full reparations for the climate debt owed to the Global South. We are here to ensure that the "coalition of the willing" produces clear commitments and concrete mechanisms for a fast, fair, and funded fossil fuel phaseout, one that rejects false solutions and provides the unconditional, non-debt-creating resources necessary to sustain our peoples and our planet.”

Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of Climate Action Network (CAN) International, reinforced: “The Global South unequivocally rejects voluntary promises that serve only to deepen our neocolonial dependence. We are here to demand that governments demonstrate the political will to sever the chains of colonial extraction once and for all. Countries in Santa Marta need to establish binding commitments and concrete global mechanisms for a fast, fair, and fully funded phase-out. This requires confronting the root causes of colonial capitalism, rejecting false solutions, and delivering unconditional, non-debt-creating reparations essential to restoring our sovereignty and securing the survival of our peoples and our planet.”

Amarilys Llanos, miembro de la Alianza Colombia Libre de Fracking, said: ““The Peoples’ Declaration for a Rapid, Equitable and Just Transition to a Fossil-Fuel-Free Future, with its 15 principles, stands as the only path that the 50 governments gathered in Santa Marta must take to establish binding mechanisms for international cooperation based on justice. The message is clear: governments must translate our principles into concrete actions that respect the sovereignty of territories and their communities.”

The declaration outlines 15 principles for a just transition, centered on:

1. Rapid, Transformative, and Science-Based: The transition must be a systemic overhaul guided by rigorous climate science (limiting warming to 1.5°C and reaching real zero by 2050) while drawing from Indigenous, ancestral, and popular knowledge.

2. Fair and Equitable (Based on Historical Responsibility): Acknowledges the Global North’s historical and ongoing responsibility, requiring it to lead in phase-out speed and provide adequate, grant-based climate finance as reparations to the Global South.

3. Addressing Energy Poverty and Universal Access: Guarantees the universal right to sufficient, sustainable, gender-just, and non-racist energy access, treating energy as a public good and prioritizing decentralized, community-owned systems.

4. Efficiency, Sufficiency, Sovereignty, and Responsible Use: Prioritizes curbing excessive consumption (especially by elites and corporations) and material sufficiency over capital accumulation, rejecting extractivist models even for "green" transitions.

5. Energy Democracy and Sovereignty: Promotes democratic, community, and public ownership of energy systems, ensuring decisions are made by peoples and territories rather than corporations, with deep participation in planning.

6. People-Centered Human Rights and Inclusion: Centers the rights of workers, women, migrants, Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendants, youth, and marginalized sectors, actively dismantling discrimination based on gender, race, class, and caste.

7. Democratic Governance of Land, Water, and Natural Resources: Ensures equitable governance of natural heritage, protecting biodiversity, water security, and food systems while respecting communal and Indigenous territorial rights and promoting agroecology.

8. Sustainable and Equitable Management of Transition Minerals: Mandates strict human rights and environmental standards for mining transition minerals, rejects extractivism, promotes a circular economy, and prohibits mineral use for militarism.

9. Ecological Justice, Integrity, and Regeneration: Moves beyond mere phase-out to regenerative development, protecting biodiversity and restoring ecosystems while respecting the Rights of Nature.

10. Mobilizing Adequate and Just Finance: Demands the removal of financial barriers, cancellation of illegitimate debts, and the provision of adequate, public, non-debt-creating climate finance from the Global North as reparations, without policy conditionalities.

11. No False Solutions: Explicitly rejects distractions like carbon capture (CCS/BECCS), nuclear energy, hydrogen/ammonia co-firing, carbon markets, large-scale bioenergy, and waste incineration that delay the phase-out or harm communities.

12. Sovereignty, Peace, and Global Justice: Links decarbonization to demilitarization, asserting that wars and militarism are major drivers of emissions and barriers to justice; demands an end to aggression, occupation, and the redirection of military spending to life-sustaining systems.

13. Reparative and Transformative Justice: Requires the dismantling of historical structures of inequality (colonialism, slavery, patriarchy) and the provision of reparations for harms caused by fossil fuel extraction and use, including recognition of the Transatlantic Slave Trade as a crime against humanity.

14. International Solidarity and Cooperation: Calls for global cooperation based on differentiated responsibilities, technology sharing, and support for a binding Fossil Fuel Treaty, rejecting green colonialism and corporate capture of multilateral processes.

15. System Change: Asserts that the climate crisis requires a comprehensive restructuring of the economic, political, and social system away from capitalism, patriarchy, racism, and extractivism toward a regenerative, democratic, and equitable order.

The Declaration calls for immediate, concrete actions:

1. A complete equitable and just phase-out of fossil fuels aligned with meeting the goal of keeping warming below 1.5°c and reach global real zero emissions by 2050

2. A rapid, direct, equitable, and just transition to 100% renewable energy; ensure equitable and universal access to renewable energy

3. An end to barriers to the transition and pursue solutions

4. A comprehensive just transition

The People’s Declaration will be reinforced with global days of action under the banner Fossil Free Rising, where communities worldwide are mobilizing to demand political will for a just transition. The movement also emphasizes that the recent ICJ Advisory Opinion confirms states have a binding legal obligation to act, making further delay a violation of international law.

The full text of the People’s Declaration for a Rapid, Equitable, and Just Transition for a Fossil-Free Future and details on global actions are available at www.fossilfreerising.org