Unceded Anishinaabe Algonquin Territories [OTTAWA], 23 April 2026:
Beginning tomorrow, civil society, subnational governments, and more than fifty countries will come together in Santa Marta, Colombia, for the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels.
The first conference of its kind, co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands, the forum seeks to advance enabling pathways for a just transition away from fossil fuels. Canadian civil society experts will be present in Santa Marta and available for media interviews throughout the conference.
The conference comes as rising fuel prices from the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran threaten to plunge more than thirty million people into poverty, highlighting that the transition away from fossil fuels is not only a matter of climate policy, but of economic stability and basic human well-being. Countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany have doubled down on renewable energy expansion plans in response to the war, but Global South countries face steep barriers to the transition, from a crippling debt crisis to legal mechanisms that deter climate action—barriers that the Santa Marta conference seeks to address.
Representatives from the Canadian and Quebec governments are expected to attend, and more than 130 organizations sent a letter earlier this month urging the federal government to engage meaningfully in the conference. Climate Action Network Canada is calling on Canada to support a fossil fuel phase-out roadmap, to renew Canada’s climate finance commitment, and to advance conversations on reforming trade, debt, and the Investor-State Dispute Settlement mechanism.
The agenda will include:
- Friday, April 24 – Sunday, April 26: The People’s Summit for a Fossil-Free Future will centre civil society and front line voices, including unions and workers, Indigenous Peoples, Afrodescendant communities, human rights and land defenders, youth, faith-based and environmental organizations, and more.
- Monday, April 27: The collective demands which emerge from the People’s Summit will be presented at the People’s Assembly, a formal space convened by the Colombian government to facilitate dialogue between civil society representatives and government delegates.
- Tuesday, April 28 – Wednesday, April 29: The official high-level conference will bring together government delegates, subnational entities, and working group representatives, and discussions will be distilled into a final report.
For more context on the conference’s objectives and Canada and Quebec’s participation, see our French-language backgrounder. For short, regular updates on what’s happening in Santa Marta, sign up for the Fossil Free Rising bulletin.
Quotes:
Sasha Lleshaj, International Just Transition Coordinator, Climate Action Network Canada: “The incredible energy, hope, and momentum building around the Santa Marta Conference show that a cleaner, safer, and fairer future is possible. Fossil fuel dependence is a project of the past: dated, dangerous, extractive, a bad investment, and out of step with both the present opportunity for energy transition and the future that the people and planet deserve. Canada faces a choice and a responsibility: double down on its destructive plans for oil and gas expansion, falling behind while the world moves on, or work together in Santa Marta to address barriers, enable the transition and share in its benefits.”
Sabaa Khan, Climate Director and Director General for Quebec and Atlantic Canada, David Suzuki Foundation: “There is a growing gap between the direction the world is moving and Canada’s continued push to build new fossil fuel infrastructure. Solar, wind and clean technology are winning on cost, and global fossil fuel demand is peaking across an increasing number of sectors. New pipelines and LNG terminals deepen both climate risk and stranded asset exposure, leaving communities, Indigenous nations and workers to bear the brunt of the costs. This conference is a critical opportunity to shape the credible and equitable global fossil fuel phase-out that international law demands.”
Elisabeth Fournier, Climate Dialogues and International Engagement Coordinator, Climate Reality Project Canada: “Santa Marta marks a turning point in international climate discussions, bringing together nearly 50 countries, including fossil fuel producers, to move from targets to concrete implementation. At the same time, countries like Canada are participating amid ongoing tensions in their climate policies, including continued fossil fuel expansion. The presence of both national governments and actors like Quebec shows that this transition is unfolding across multiple levels. This is a conference to watch closely, at a pivotal geopolitical moment, as it could shape how the global energy transition unfolds in the years ahead.”
Leah Temper, Director Health and Economic Policy, Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment: “After 30 years of dead-lock at climate COPs, Santa Marta offers a historic opportunity to break from decades of climate gridlock and imagine a fossil-free future grounded in both economic and public health realities. Canada, as the largest fossil producer invited, and one who has not yet got the memo that the world is moving on, will hopefully be there to listen, learn and shift course. The latest energy war reinforces the message: renewable energy is already cheaper and more resilient, and a fossil-free transition would save millions of lives while reducing healthcare costs. The health cost savings alone often more than make up for transition costs. The barriers to a transition are no longer technical nor economic, but political. The coalition of the willing gathered in Santa Marta can hopefully chart the way forward to overcome obstruction by big polluters intent on blocking the inevitable.”
Liz McDowell, Senior Campaigns Director, Stand.earth: “By finally naming fossil fuels as the culprit of the climate emergency, Santa Marta has drawn a line in the sand. Canada faces a clear choice: join the renewable revolution sweeping the world or be left stranded in the past. While national governments debate climate action, cities around the world are already delivering it on everything from green buildings to clean transportation. The job now is to follow their lead, not impose a ceiling on their ambition. Alongside this we need a shift in capital – our banks and pensions must stop overfinancing the problem and start funding the solution. Canada has a responsibility to ensure our policies, laws and financial might support the future, rather than anchoring us to a floundering and volatile oil and gas industry.”
Canadian civil society experts on the ground in Santa Marta include:
David Suzuki Foundation:
- Janelle Lapointe, Senior Adviser, Indigenous Strategy. Available for interviews about Indigenous rights and climate justice, economic reconciliation and just transition, environmental racism and integrating Indigenous world views into climate and economic policy. (EN)
- Sabaa Khan, Climate Director and Director General for Quebec and Atlantic Canada. Available for interviews about international climate law and policy, trade and investment agreements, climate finance, human rights, petrochemical and plastic pollution. (EN, FR)
- Thomas Green, Senior Manager for Climate Solutions. Available for interviews about federal climate policy, energy transition and climate action. (EN, FR)
- Contact: Rosie Rattray, rrattray@davidsuzuki.org
Climate Reality Canada :
- Elisabeth Fournier, Climate Dialogues and International Engagement Coordinator. Available for interviews on international climate negotiations, the transition away from fossil fuels, energy transition pathways, and international cooperation dynamics. (EN, FR) / efournier@realiteclimatique.ca
Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment:
- Leah Temper, Health and Economic Policy Program Director. Available for interviews on the transition away from fossil fuels, fossil fuels and health, climate disinformation and industry obstruction, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertising bans, transformative politics & radical imagination. (EN, FR, SP) / leah@cape.ca
Stand.earth:
- Liz McDowell, Senior Campaigns Director. Available for interviews on federal climate policy, plans for fossil fuel expansion and subsidies in B.C, how cities are taking the lead to reduce their fossil fuel dependence, and forest bioenergy as a dangerous distraction (the need to consider biodiversity as part of a fossil fuel phase out) / Liz@stand.earth
- Martyna Dominiak, Senior Finance Campaigner. Available for interviews on climate finance, the role of financial institutions in hindering or accelerating the energy transition and the oil and gas companies, including Canadian ones, advancing fossil fuel exclusion zones in Amazonia / martyna.dominiak@stand.earth
Climate Action Network Canada will be following developments from back home, and interviews with our team can be arranged through:
Vicky Coo, Communications Manager
comms@climateactionnetwork.ca
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