WCC joins global call to end fossil fuels

When the United Nations climate conference COP30 in Belém, Brazil ended without a single direct reference to fossil fuels in its final text, advocates said the obvious had been avoided: the primary driver of the climate crisis had not been named, let alone addressed. 

On 24 April, a coalition of governments, faith communities, and civil society organisations gathered in Santa Marta, Colombia, determined to do what COP30 could not: launch a formal treaty process to end coal, oil, and gas production, with faith voices at the table from the start.

The 1st International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels, convened by the governments of Colombia and the Netherlands, opened on 24 April in response to the Belém Declaration on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, which 24 countries have now backed. It aligns with the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target and follows the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, which confirmed that states carry a legal obligation to manage how much coal, oil, and gas they extract.

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