Why organize for a fossil fuel phase out now?
The moment
In April 2026, governments will gather in Santa Marta, Colombia, for the First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels.
For the first time, governments are convening specifically to plan an equitable, managed and financed phase out of coal, oil and gas — addressing the climate crisis at its source.
This is historic.
But history does not move forward on diplomacy alone. It moves when people organize.
Fossil fuels are the root cause — not just emissions
The UN climate process focuses on emissions reductions. Santa Marta recognizes something deeper: the climate crisis is driven by fossil fuel extraction.
As long as new coal mines, oil fields and gas projects are approved, climate breakdown accelerates — no matter what emissions pledges say.
There will be no climate justice without peace and no peace without ending fossil fuel dependence.
Phaseout is not only an environmental demand. It is a peace project.
The Question is not “will they act?”
The question is: will we create enough people power to make inaction impossible?
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The 1.5°C window is closing
The International Panel on Climate Change makes clear:
• 1.5°C is a red line.
• 2°C means exponentially worse impacts.
• Coal, oil and gas must stay in the ground.Every new fossil fuel project locks in decades of damage.
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Governments move when people move
• The landmine ban began outside traditional UN channels.
• The nuclear weapons ban began with a coalition of the willing.
• Fossil fuel phaseout will be no different.Santa Marta is not a UNFCCC meeting: it is a parallel diplomatic process, and parallel processes require parallel public pressure.
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Organizing now means
• Turning Santa Marta into a political turning point
• Ensuring it leads to a roadmap, not rhetoric
• Bringing justice, equity, and frontline voices into the process
• Making fossil fuel phaseout politically unavoidable -
What we want
• No new fossil fuel projects
• A binding, timebound phase out framework
• Financial support for a just transition
• Protection for Indigenous and frontline communities
• A roadmap aligned with 1.5°C
Fossil fuels fuel conflict and instability: key facts
Military emissions account for approximately 5.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, making armed forces one of the largest institutional fossil fuel consumers in the world.
Modern militaries are structurally dependent on oil: jet fuel, naval fleets, armored vehicles, global logistics chains all run primarily on fossil fuels.
Oil and gas reserves are concentrated in a small number of regions, increasing geopolitical competition over access and control.
The global fossil fuel trade embeds structural inequalities between exporting and importing countries, reinforcing power imbalances.
Since the 20th century, energy security has been a central driver of foreign policy and military intervention strategies in multiple regions.
Major global conflicts in the Middle East and other regions have been closely linked to oil supply routes, reserves, and pipeline corridors.
Fossil fuel infrastructure (pipelines, refineries, export terminals) is often treated as strategic military assets and protected accordingly.
Energy dependency allows exporting countries to use supply disruption or price manipulation as geopolitical leverage.
Fossil fuel price shocks have repeatedly triggered economic crises, political instability, and social unrest in import-dependent countries.
Oil and gas revenues can entrench authoritarian regimes by reducing reliance on taxation and weakening democratic accountability.
In several fossil fuel–dependent economies, resource revenues have financed military expansion and internal repression.
Extraction zones are frequently militarized, and communities resisting fossil fuel projects often face surveillance, criminalization, or violence.
Climate change — driven primarily by fossil fuel combustion — acts as a “threat multiplier,” increasing risks of food insecurity, displacement, inequality, biodiversity loss, and instability.
Climate-related disasters disproportionately affect fragile and conflict-affected regions, compounding existing political tensions.
Continuing fossil fuel expansion locks the global economy into a system where resource control, energy coercion, and military protection remain central features.
