From April 24-29, 2026, Colombia and the Netherlands hosted the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, a collective effort aimed to build a “coalition of the willing,” enabling pathways for transition.
The conference was organized around three themes:
- Overcoming economic dependence,
- Transforming supply and demand, and
- Advancing international cooperation and climate diplomacy.
Prior to the conference, the Sustainability Hub spoke with Philippe Le Billon, COP30 Delegate and Professor in the Geography Department and School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. As one of the organizers for the academic portion of the gathering, Philippe shared more about what to expect at the Conference.
SH: What is the First Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels? Why is it happening?
PLB: The conference is a response to the deadlock apparent during COP30 in Belém between key fossil fuel producers defending their economic interests and countries seeking more rapid climate action. While global climate negotiations under the UNFCCC at COP28 in 2023 have acknowledged the need to “transition away,” there has been no progress on fossil fuels since. This conference is a direct effort to move beyond this deadlock and ensure that future COPs will directly address the issue of phasing-down fossil fuels extraction and consumption.
This initiative brings together about 53 countries as well as researchers and civil society actors to develop concrete pathways for reducing fossil fuel dependence – economically, politically, and socially. It is happening now because of a growing sense that existing processes are too slow. Energy security concerns, war-driven disruptions, geopolitical tensions, and continued fossil fuel expansion have made clear that transition cannot be left to incremental consensus alone.
SH: How are stakeholder dialogues feeding into ministerial talks?
PLB: A key innovation of the conference is its structure. Rather than limiting discussions to government representatives, the process includes multi-stakeholder dialogues that bring together researchers, Indigenous and community representatives, civil society organizations, unions, and policy practitioners.
These dialogues are designed to bring scientific findings and diverse perspectives on issues like the role of central banks in supporting such transition, the phasing-out of fossil fuel subsidies, deep reforms of fossil fuel investment protection standing in the way of a phase-down, economic diversification to support producer countries, Indigenous and environmental rights, and ways to address the risks of new extractivism tied to transition minerals.
These will be synthesized into policy-relevant recommendations that will feed into ministerial discussions. In that sense, the conference also attempts to bridge a recurrent gap in climate governance: between slow and often minimal high-level commitments and lived realities on the ground.
SH: What is your role? What can you share about the academic portion of the conference?
PLB: My role is to contribute to the academic and analytical track of the conference, helping to frame the broader political economy of the transition, with a focus on the tension between reducing fossil fuel dependence and avoiding new forms of extractivism. This is a topic I also explore in my upcoming book The Great Green Grab, including rights infringements and severe environmental impacts.
I will facilitate discussions on how current transition strategies risk leading to "energy addition" rather than true substitution; the geopolitics of critical minerals and supply chains; and the need to align decarbonization with justice, rather than simply shifting extractive frontiers. Results of such will be brought into a synthesis. My colleague Jessica Dempsey is also involved, as well as two doctoral students.
SH: What are your hoped-for outcomes?
PLB: At a minimum, the conference should help clarify what a fossil fuel transition actually entails beyond broad statements of intent. More concretely, I hope for clearer policy pathways for reducing fossil fuel dependence across sectors. Something we are also doing through this year’s Climate Adaptation, Resilience and Empowerment (CARE) Program Policy Lab includes concrete policy roadmaps, stronger recognition of the risks of green extractivism, commitments to equitable financing mechanisms – particularly for countries in the Global South – and greater integration of community and Indigenous perspectives into decision-making. The success of the conference broadly will depend on whether it can move from diagnosis to coordination, aligning countries around actionable strategies.
SH: What are the next steps?
PLB: The conference is best seen as the beginning of a process, not an endpoint. Next steps are likely to include further inputs and negotiations ahead of the next COP, translating discussions into national and regional policy frameworks, strengthening cooperation among participating countries – including through initiatives such as the Coalition on Phasing Out Fossil Fuel Incentives Including Subsidies (COFFIS) and BOGA – and developing science-based transition roadmaps.
The broader question is whether this model, which offers a more flexible and coalition-based approach to formal COPs, can scale-up and influence the global system, including highly reluctant countries continuing to play a major role in fossil fuel-based energy systems.
Philippe Le Billon is a Professor with the Department of Geography and the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs.
He holds a PhD in Geography (Oxford). A political ecologist, he works on linkages between environment, development, and security with a focus on resource-related conflicts. He currently works on the “green transition,” environmental defenders, and ocean sustainability. His publications include Wars of Plunder: Conflicts, Profits and the Politics of Resources (Oxford UP, 2013), Oil (Polity Press, 2017 with Gavin Bridge), Environmental Defenders: Struggles for Life and Territory (Routledge, 2021 with Mary Menton), and The Great Green Grab, Climate Extractivism and Resource Imperialism (Hurst, 2026).