The first conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels ended on a note of optimism.

Fifty-seven countries convened in Santa Marta to discuss how a transition away from fossil fuels can be made possible. The talks are significant in that they are focused on how to achieve a fossil fuel phase-out, rather than if.

The overall feeling, when governments, CSOs, Indigenous representatives, and several other stakeholders first gathered last Friday, was that of urgency. As Kumi Naidoo, president of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, declared during the official conference opening: “Pessimism is a luxury that we simply cannot afford.”

BankTrack, together with partners RAN, Amazon Watch, Stand.Earth, Friends of the Earth US, Oil Change International, and Recommon, and with the collaboration of Parliamentarians for a Fossil Free Future and several representatives of South American Indigenous Peoples, organised a side event to raise attention on the fundamental necessity of ending private finance to fossil fuels.

Despite the feeling of urgency, BankTrack has reported a “general optimism and enthusiasm” among the attending delegates that a rapid fossil fuel phase-out may now be one step closer to happening, with a clear set of recommendations and clear steps ahead to set concrete roadmaps. We share the sentiment of Colombian Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Irene Vélez Torres, which she expressed at the end of the plenary ession: “This may be the first multilateral meeting that I find not frustrating.”

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